Summary of key insights
BARRIERS
Power dynamics and systemic issues act as
barriers to workers seeking support and/or
raising a complaint
•
For 69% of workers subjected to harassment
or bullying, the perpetrator was someone in a
more senior position.
•
Workers don’t seek support or complain for
fear of the consequences (45%) and distrust
in the system – 35% felt complaining would
be ineffective due to workplace cultural
norms and 28% felt their complaint would not
be believed or kept confidential.
“Older, very senior men making jokes and
comments, and implying my future success
would be better if I sided with them.”
MOVING FORWARD
Workers want better support, preferably from
someone independent
•
42% of workers impacted by harassment or
bullying felt that they needed more support
than what they got at the time. This jumps to
65% when the impact is large or extreme.
•
Top 5 things that would be useful:
•
Someone independent looking into the
workplace culture/policies (31%)
•
Anti-bullying and harassment training for
the workplace (29%)
•
Support to make an internal complaint
(20%)
•
Independent, free service to resolve the
situation (17%)
•
Counselling/mental health support
services (15%).
“I ended up quitting with no job lined up
as my mental health was at the point of
I either quit and be unemployed or jump
in front of a train. I had no support, they
did not offer to train me properly, showed
no care for my mental health and took
no responsibility for putting me in that
position.”
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KANTAR PUBLIC 2022