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Violence in the workplace in the United Kingdom

    Our latest research examines two nationally representative datasets, The Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) and the UK Household Panel Survey (UKHLS), to examine variance in the prevalence of workplace violence by industrial sector and occupational group.

    The authors, Dr Vanessa Gash and Dr Niels Blom, found 28% of commercial businesses reported criminal victimisation on their premises in the past year, including 8% reporting violent victimisation (namely assaults, robberies, and threats).

    Using individual-level data, the report also found 8% of employees had been threatened, insulted or physically attacked at work in the past year, and a similar percentage have felt unsafe at work, with public sector workers most at risk.

    The authors call for enhanced recognition of the problem of workplace violence for a significant proportion of workers in multiple different sectors, alongside improved policies to minimise workplace violence going forward.

    Figure 1. Prevalence of Violence and Fear of Violence in the Workplace by Sector, UKHLS data 2020-2021, weighted estimates

    The report can be downloaded here: VISION Policy Report – Violence in the workplace in the UK: Business and individual-level exposure

    Acknowledgements:

    The report benefited from input and insights from the Home Office, who provided us with access to the Commercial Victimisation Survey used here.

    Photograph licensed by Adobe Stock

    Workplace bullying and harassment harms health

      Workplace bullying and harassment (WBH) is bad for people’s health, and this negative health impact can manifest in a variety of ways and be long-lasting.

      Over a decade ago the UK government initiated the Fair Treatment at Work survey, aiming to ‘place the issue of bullying at work on employers’ agendas’, yet there has been no major initiative since.

      Using data from the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, VISION researchers Annie Bunce, Ladan Hashemi and Sally McManus, along with Carrie Myers and Charlotte Clark from City St George’s, University of London and Stephen Stansfeld from Queen Mary, University of London, examined the prevalence and nature of WBH among workers in England, and associations with mental health.

      A clear picture of the severity of the problem of WBH in England is painted by four key findings.

      1. One in ten people in paid work reported having experienced WBH in the past year. This is likely to be an underestimate due to underreporting for various reasons;
      2. Those who reported bullying were more likely to be in a financially disadvantaged position;
      3. Over half of people who reported having been bullied at work identified the perpetrator as a line manager; and
      4. Clinically diagnosed common mental disorder was more than twice as likely in employees with experience of WBH compared with those without, and those exposed to WBH were also twice as likely as others in paid work to screen positive for PTSD.

      Taken together these findings demonstrate that WBH is common in UK workplaces, it may be driven and exacerbated by issues of inequality, power and hierarchical organisational structures, and it is associated with depressive and anxiety disorders severe enough to warrant health service intervention and treatment.

      This power dynamic should not be forgotten when addressing issues in the workplace, but the complexity of workplace environments creates challenges for identifying, understanding and addressing bullying. Reports of WBH can coincide with performance concerns from managers, and, whilst behaviours intended as legitimate performance management activities might be misinterpreted as bullying by the employee, it is also possible that HR practitioners attribute managerial bullying behaviours to legitimate performance management practice to exonerate mangers and protect the organisation.

      This links to a recently published piece for The Conversation by Sally McManus and Kat Ford (Bangor University), which sets out how companies can influence and perpetuate violence in society, including via employment practices that conceal the extent of bullying, sexual harassment and other forms of workplace violence (for further information see Six ways companies fuel violence (theconversation.com).

      Also, structural issues in the workplace can create pressure for managers which they then take out on those they manage, managers can be victims of WBH themselves, and organisational culture may perpetuate WBH.

      Given such complex power dynamics, it is recommended that organisations involve employees at all levels in the development of policies, and collaboratively review the implementation and performance of policies regularly to ensure they are working for the people they are intended to protect. Rather than prescribed ‘tick box’ policies and responses, creative methods incorporating employees’ perspectives may more likely lead to meaningful change.

      Crucially, managers and HRs might not be the most approachable people for victims of WBH. For example, other VISION research has found this to be the case for victims of intimate partner violence and abuse (see VISION Policy Series: The impact of intimate partner violence on job loss and time off work in the UK – City Vision).  Therefore, alternative sources of support need to be available within organisations, such as unions and counselling services.

      For further information please see the full paper available at: Prevalence and nature of workplace bullying and harassment and associations with mental health conditions in England: a cross-sectional probability sample survey | BMC Public Health (springer.com)

      Or please contact Dr Annie Bunce at annie.bunce@city.ac.uk

      Illustration licensed by Adobe Photo Stock

      VISION researchers presenting at UK Data Service Health Studies Conference 2024

        This event is in the past.

        Two researchers of the VISION consortium project presented at the Health Studies Conference in July.

        Dr Elizabeth Cook, Senior Lecturer at City, University of London, presented Indirect victims of violence: mental health and the close relatives of serious assault victims in England.

        Dr Annie Bunce, Research Fellow at City, University of London, presented Prevalence and nature of workplace bullying and harassment and associations with mental health conditions in England: a cross-sectional probability sample survey

        The free event was on 1 July at University College London (UCL) and organised by the UK Data Service in collaboration with UCL and the National Centre for Social Research. The conference provided updates from the data producers of key UK social surveys with health-related content, such as the Health Survey for England, Understanding Society and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. There were also presentations by researchers who conducted analyses using health data.

        Register for the event

        Illustration at top of page is from licensed Adobe Stock library

        Presentations from 2nd VISION annual conference now available

          We are pleased to provide the presentations from our 2nd annual conference held 21 September 2023 at Mary Ward House in London. 

          The theme was Responding to violence across the life course. Sessions included presentations on childhood and teenage years; working life, poverty & economic impacts; older years; and social inclusion in policy and research. The conference concluded with a panel discussion on violence and complex systems.

          Seventy-seven academics, central and local government officials, practitioners, and voluntary and community sector organisations attended from a range of health and crime / justice disciplines.

          Please feel free to download the presentations below. Each session is one download.

          Photo caption: Dr Ladan Hashemi, Senior Research Fellow at VISION, answers a question after her presentation, ‘Adverse Childhood Experiences and Childhood Obesity:​ Exploring Potential Mediating and Moderating Factors​’

          Download the Welcome slides

          Download the slides from Session 1 – Childhood and teenage years

          Download the slides from Session 2 – Social inclusion in policy & research

          Download the slides from Session 3 – Working life, poverty and economic impacts

          Download the slides from Session 4 – Older people

          Dr Annie Bunce receives award at Lancet Public Health Science conference

            Dr Annie Bunce

            Dr Annie Bunce, VISION Research Fellow, was awarded Best Oral Presentation at the Lancet Public Health Science conference in London this November. She presented on the Prevalence, nature and associations of workplace bullying and harassment with mental health conditions in England: a cross-sectional probability sample survey.

            Annie’s research, conducted with VISION colleagues Ladan Hashemi, Sally McManus, and others, presents the first nationally representative findings on the prevalence of workplace bullying and harassment in England for over a decade. Annie analysed data from the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) to demonstrate: the prevalence of workplace bullying and harassment (WBH) in the working population in England; the nature of WBH experienced, who it was perpetrated by and the types of behaviour it involved; and associations between the experience of WBH and indicators of adverse mental health.

            The study is unique in that the APMS makes robust assessments of mental health – operationalising diagnostic criteria – which provides an accurate assessment of clinical need. Implications for employers, policymakers, health services and researchers are outlined.

            For the article, please see: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02066-4/fulltext

            Please contact Annie at annie.bunce@city.ac.uk for further information.

            Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash