The Czech Republic along with Finland and Austria lead the European Union when it comes to a specific type of bullying in the workplace, known as mobbing. The figures from the European Foundation for Better Living and Working Conditions are being confirmed by local research being piloted at the University of Olomouc.

Photo: Bartlomiej Stroinski / freeimages

On average in Europe around 17 percent of women and 15 percent of men report mobbing in the workplace according to the 2015 findings of the European Foundation for Better Living and Working Conditions. The Czech Republic though comes out with even worst figures than that, putting it among the worst countries in Europe.

Mobbing is usually used to refer to group as opposed to individual pressure on a victim. Pressure is likely to be subtle and cumulative, such as frequent criticism of work performance leading to the erosion of self-esteem and confidence. Results from Sweden suggests many of the victims can suffer serious psychological damage as a result, such as post- traumatic stress disorder.

A survey last year by the STEM survey agency last year put this workplace bullying in the Czech Republic at around one in four, with 27 percent of women and 19 percent of men saying they were victims.

On ongoing study at the Palacký University in Olomouc now confirms the overall picture. It found that of the 3,750 respondents surveyed around one out of five confirmed workplace bullying.

The person who has been leading the research is Panajotis Cakirpaloglu. He had this to say about the some of the results.

“The people who are most bullied at the workplace are those with higher education, that is to say those who have been to university. Around 42 percent of them are victims and it is mostly those working in the public sector who are bullied the most.”

Michaela Švejdová created a web page ‘Bullying at Work’ in 2012 following by an on-line advice portal for victims. She told Czech Radio that one of the problems is that victims often feel that they have nowhere and no-one to turn to.

“Our experience is that many people lose all hope altogether and they feel that there is nothing they can do to address the situation. Those people who try to use the law to protect themselves find they don’t have much to go on. Those who prefer to deal with the matter internally unfortunately find that the management often use legal means to avoid their responsibility altogether.”

Some lawmakers in the lower and upper houses of parliament have proposed that the labour law should be updated to give employees clearer rights and protection against bullying. Palacký University’s Cakirpaloglu says that bullying in all its forms is not even clearly defined at the moment. Other European countries, such as Sweden since `1993, have pushed through laws specifically dealing with mobbing.