CHICAGO and ATLANTA,
Oct. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As
people across the country wear purple in support of GLAAD's Spirit
Day, which is a means of speaking out against LGBTQ bullying and
standing with LGBTQ youth, new research indicates that LGBT workers
are facing bullying in an area that should be a safe place – their
workplace. Two in five LGBT workers (40 percent) report feeling
bullied at work, 11 percentage points higher than the national
average of all workers combined. Fifty-six percent of bullied LGBT
workers report being bullied repeatedly.
The nationwide survey was conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of
CareerBuilder from February 16 to March 9,
2017 among a representative sample of 3,420 full-time
workers across industries and company sizes in the U.S, including
238 LGBT workers and 3,215 workers in the private sector.
"Bullying of any kind or of anyone has no place in the workplace
– period," said Michael Erwin,
director of corporate communications and social media at
CareerBuilder. "Employers have a responsibility to create a safe
working environment for all employees. They can minimize this
destructive behavior by offering sensitivity training and enforcing
anti-bullying policies across their organizations."
Bullying Takes Many Forms
What does bullying look like in today's workplace? Fifty-three
percent of bullied LGBT workers say they were bullied by one
person, and 13 percent say it happened in a group setting. Fourteen
percent of LGBT bullied workers say they were bullied by someone
younger, and 61 percent say they were bullied by someone older.
Among the most common examples of bullying given by LGBT workers
who were bullied at work were:
- Falsely accused of mistakes you didn't make (61 percent)
- Ignored - comments were dismissed or not acknowledged (50
percent)
- Used different standards/policies for you than other workers
(49 percent)
- You were gossiped about (47 percent)
- Picked on for personal attributes (race, gender, appearance)
(42 percent)
- Constantly criticized by boss or co-workers (40 percent)
- Someone didn't perform certain duties, which negatively
impacted your work (40 percent)
- Purposely excluded from projects or meetings (31 percent)
- Belittling comments were made about your work during meetings
(28 percent)
Consequences of Bullying
Being bullied can have many effects, many long-lasting, and LGBT
workers are feeling the consequences. Of those LGBT workers who
were bullied at work, 19 percent have suffered from health-related
problems as a result of being bullied at work, and 15 percent have
called in sick because of feeling bullied.
Forty-one percent of LGBT workers who have been bullied at work
have left a job because they have felt bullied.
Dealing with Workplace Bullying
Erwin shared the below tips for workers dealing with office
bullies.
- Take notes. Document interactions with the bully. Keep
these notes in a private place, and use them if you need to show
the bullying pattern to a third party, such as your company's HR
department.
- Rise above, but don't be afraid to confront. At first,
try to minimize time spent around the bully, and ignore any
bullying behavior. But sometimes, enough is enough, and you need to
confront them. Explain how the negative treatment makes you feel,
and ask them to stop. Sometimes perpetrators are not aware of the
effect their actions have. Fifty-three percent of workers who were
bullied at work confronted their bully, and 20 percent said the
bullying stopped.
- Bring in the experts. Seventy-two percent of workers who
were bullied at work do not report it to HR. Your HR team is
trained in dealing with workplace conflict, and can step in to help
you solve the issue.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on
behalf of CareerBuilder among 3,420 employees (employed full-time,
not self-employed, non-government including 3,215 in the private
sector and 238 LGBT workers) between February 16 and March 9,
2017 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset,
based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure
probability sample of 3,420, one could say with a 95 percent
probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-
1.68 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is
higher and varies.
About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is a global, end-to-end human capital solutions
company focused on helping employers find, hire and manage great
talent. Combining advertising, software and services, CareerBuilder
leads the industry in recruiting solutions, employment screening
and human capital management. CareerBuilder is majority-owned by
Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) and operates in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit
www.careerbuilder.com.
Media Contact
Rachel Nauen
773-353-3803
Rachel.nauen@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR
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SOURCE CareerBuilder