Report highlights harassment of 12 million workers

Date: 17/04/03

By Martin Banks

SOME 12 million workers in the European Union have been subjected to harassment, intimidation and bullying at work in the past year, according to a new report.

This can range from verbal abuse to physical assault, says the Dublin-based EU agency which carried out the research.

The paper, Preventing Harassment and Violence in the Workplace, is due to be discussed at a conference in Brussels later this month.

It identifies major discrepancies in the levels of reporting cases of harassment, ranging from 15 in Finland and 14 in the UK to just 4 in Portugal and Greece.

This, the report suggests, may reflect the relative lack of profile the problem has in southern European countries.

Other findings include:

• Between 2 and 5 of EU workers have experienced physical violence - or the threat of it - in the past 12 months;
• up to 10 of the population perceive themselves to be victimised by harassment at any one time;
• sexual offences at work, particularly against women, are "commonplace" in all member states;
• racial harassment at work is a "substantial" problem, and;
• reporting harassment at work remains largely taboo in most EU states.

The survey was carried out by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, which will hold a one-day conference at l'Auditoire de la Banque Nationale de Belgique on 29 April to discuss the issue.

Among those attending will be Belgium's deputy premier Laurette Onkelinx and Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou.

A survey, carried out by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, has revealed that some 12 million workers in the European Union have been subjected to harassment, intimidation and bullying at work in the past year.

http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef02109.htm http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef02109.htm

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