Workplace Bullying in the Finnish Public Sector: Who, Me?

We examine incidents of workplace bullying by using an Internet-based survey. Our unique sample consists of 1,072 public-sector employees working in 12 Finnish ministries. Of those surveyed, 20.3% reported experiencing work task-related bullying multiple times per month, whereas 11.3% reported experiencing personal-level bullying. Supervisors were less likely to be bullied than subordinates, and women were more likely to experience bullying than men. Among victims who had experienced bullying during the past 12 months, nearly 60% reported that their problem had yet to be solved. To combat workplace bullying in public-sector organizations, we propose a proactive punitive strategy that includes stricter rules and severe administrative penalties to those who breach them.