Two in five LGBT workers experience workplace bullying

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Are you fostering a work environment where all your employees feel safe from bullying?

A recent CareerBuilder survey has found that 40% of LGBT workers in the US felt bullied at work.

The survey, which collected responses from 3,420 full-time employees, showed that of the LGBT workers who felt bullied at work, 56% reported being bullied repeatedly.

Common examples of the types of bullying LGBT employees have faced in their workplace included:

• Being falsely accused of mistakes they didn't make (61%)
• Having their comments dismissed or not acknowledged (50%)
• Having different standards and policies used for them than other workers (49%)
• Being gossiped about (47%)
• Being picked on for personal attributes such as race, gender or appearance (42%)
• Being constantly criticised by boss or co-workers (40%)
• Someone not performing certain duties which negatively impacted their work (40%)
• Purposely being excluded from projects or meetings (31%)
• Having belittling comments made about their work during meetings (28%)

LGBT workers have also experienced other long-lasting consequences of such bullying. For example, 19% of LGBT workers who were bullied have suffered from health-related problems as a result of the bullying, while 15% revealed that they have called in sick because of the bullying. More than two-fifths of bullied workers have even left a job because they felt bullied there.

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"Bullying of any kind or of anyone has no place in the workplace – period," commented Michael Erwin, director of corporate communications and social media at CareerBuilder.

He added: "Employers have a responsibility to create a safe working environment for all employees. They can minimise this destructive behavior by offering sensitivity training and enforcing anti-bullying policies across their organisations."