“A senior colleague would hit me with a ruler when I made mistakes in my work. I did the same job as her, but was paid half as much, and put up with abuse on a daily basis.”

This 26-year-old’s case is common, according to shocking survey statistics to be revealed by UNISON and Company Magazine today (Wednesday 14 October).

The UK’s largest public sector union and the top leading young women’s monthly are launching a Bully Busters campaign, as figures show more than a third of young women are suffering in silence.

Results revealed that 66 per cent of respondents bullied in the last six months say it is ongoing and that the most common bully is an older woman in a more senior professional position.

The majority of bullied women suffer from anger, mental stress, depression, lowered confidence and insomnia.

Around 80 per cent of respondents are demanding that bullying legislation is put in place, to make it as serious as harassment.

The Bully Busters campaign is calling for the government to revise the current Dignity in the Workplace bill to include an anti-bullying policy, which is enforced by employers.

Dave Prentis, UNISON’s General Secretary, said:

“This shocking survey shows that the bullying and harassment of young women in the workplace is spiralling out of control.

“More women are working now than ever before, yet one in three young women are victimised and suffer in silence.

“Many people do not realise that a drip feed of bullying behaviour can be as devastating as a major incident.

“Serious mental and physical illness is a common result for those being bullied and this can have a damaging effect on these women for the rest of their lives.

“Our research has shown that bullying is accepted in many organisations – we need to change this attitude now.

“The recession has surely added to this problem and the cost to employers, to cover absence and replace trained staff, makes it clear that tackling bullying makes economic sense.

“UNISON is committed to banning the bully, as it is important for young women to know that joining a union, is crucial.”

Company Editor, Victoria White, said:

"We at Company, the magazine for young UK women in their freedom years, were shocked by the results of the survey which show one in three young women are being bullied at work.

“What's even worse is that the experts believe the credit crunch has made the situation even more rife.

“Company is proud to have teamed with UNISON to raise awareness of workplace bullying and to encourage young women to stand up for themselves and stop this kind of harassment going at work."

Sarah Lewis, 27, from London, who works as a Management Accountant at a hospital, said:

“My boss enjoyed having control and power over me.

“This included having to tell her when I was leaving the department on every occasion, including using the toilet.

“And when I requested annual leave she made it difficult and would wait until the last minute to approve it, which meant I had to pay more for my holidays.

“If I made an error, I was persecuted for it, I felt so helpless, as my every move was being watched and recorded.

“As a results of the bullying incidents I experienced, I decided to become a UNISON Branch Secretary to help others.

“The hospital has since changed its bullying and harassment policy to include better ways of dealing with bullying, like mediation.

“However, I think more needs to be done across all workplaces and I am backing the Bully Busters campaign to help stop other young women from suffering.”

Main findings of the survey:

• One in three young women say they are being bullied at work
• 33% have been bullied on the last six months – 66% of these say it is ongoing
• Bullying has lasted less than six months for 26%, but for 35% it has lasted from a year, to more than four year
• Of those that haven’t been bullied in the last six months, a further 41% say they have been bullied at some point
• The majority of young women have been bullied by an older female at a higher professional level
• 73% of all young women responding knew their employer had a bullying policy at work, but 65% say it has not been enforced
• Many said the policy had not been reviewed since 2000, or before
• 81% believe legislation is needed to make bullying as serious as harassment
• For those who have been bullied in the last six months, the most common bullying behaviours include:
  Excessive work monitoring and criticism, isolation/exclusion, intimidation, unrealistic targets, public humiliation and insulting jokes, malicious rumours and withholding information to get the job done

Effects of bullying:

74% of these women say it has affected their physical and mental health, 34% say it has kept them away from work and 10% have taken between 41 to 100 days off work

Reactions to the bullying:

86% suffered anger, 82% anxiety/mental stress, 80% had lowered motivation, 75% suffered loss of self-confidence, 71% felt powerless and undermined, 63% suffered depression, 54% had insomnia

The reason for bullying, answered by all respondents:

90% of young women believe bullies can get away with it, 93% feel that people are too scared to report it, 82% that management is too geared towards performance, 76% say job insecurity is being exploited, 77% that the complaints system does not work, 65% think the term is so vague you cannot enforce it, 44% believe that bullying is normal, 35% believe that TV makes bullying normal.

The reasons given for an increase:

73% believe that everyone is being asked to take on more work in the same amount of time, 54% believe that bullying has become an acceptable part of our organisational culture, 51% say their organisation does not take action towards it so it increases, 40% think that bullies are tolerated in the credit crunch environment.

Taking action:

23% are worried the situation would get worse, 23% are concerned they would be labeled a troublemaker, 20% worried it will harm their reputation, 18% are lacking in confidence to do anything

Of those previously bullied:

22% confronted the bully and, for those that did this, 20% found the bullying got worse, while 21% found they were labeled a troublemaker, 53% looked for another job with the employer and 10% left the employer, 46% of those still at the employer are planning on leaving, while 28 per cent intend to stay, but do nothing about the bullying

Almost 60% say they know the bully has bullied before

Of those who knew the bully had done it before, 68% believe management knew about this previous situation

Result:

Only 23% of those previously bullied had been able to make it stop, 41% of these left their job because of it, 45% say it was with their current employer, 46% say management knew about the previous situation, 56% say it had happened to someone else before them, 52% of those who aren’t being bullied now had witnessed workplace bullying in the past.

Of these respondents, 33% decided to change their jobs after witnessing, 52 per cent did nothing, 56% were worried about being a target themselves, 28% worked harder because of it.

Harassment

• (Related to age, sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion, belief or sexual orientation - linked to anti-discrimination laws.)
• 12% of young women have been harassed in the last six months, with 67 per cent of those saying it is ongoing
• The majority say this is because of age, with the second highest number claiming it is because they are female
• The majority of the time the harassment is by an older female at a higher professional level
• For 26% of young women it has been going on for more than 3 years
• 27% say they had been in the job less than a year before the bullying started, with 13% saying it had lasted more than four years
• 29% had five days or less off work, but 28% took off 21 to 100 days off

Of those harassed:

37% believed they had to accept harassment as part of the job, 52% were worried they’d be labeled a troublemaker, 27% planned to stay in their job and do nothing