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Almost 20 per cent of public servants say they were harassed on the job over the past two years and the main culprits were their bosses and co-workers, according to a newly released survey of Canada’s federal workforce.

The triennial public service employee survey, released by Treasury Board Thursday, is the first to distinguish between the kinds of harassment workers face on the job.

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Previous surveys found nearly 30 per cent of all employees said they faced some type of harassment over the previous two years – a level that workplace experts felt was high and could be contributing to the government’s rising disability claims for depression and anxiety.

MPs on the Status of Women Committee also prodded Treasury Board to use the survey to get at the nature of the harassment and why employees who feel harassed don’t lodge formal complaints.

The government added or modified 30 questions this year to get a better handle on harassment, as well as on discrimination and performance management, two other issues that have bubbled up since the 2011 survey.