[Workplace bullying and sickness absenteeism]
Paolo Campanini1, Paul Maurice Conway, Luca Neri
1Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e di Comunità, Università degli studi di Milano. paolo.campanini@unimi.it
Epidemiologia E Prevenzione
|April 16, 2013
Summary
Workplace bullying significantly increases sickness absenteeism in Italian workers. This study highlights bullying as a major stressor, impacting both employee health and company costs.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Psychosocial Factors
- Workplace Safety
Context:
- Investigated the link between workplace bullying and sickness absenteeism in a large Italian workforce.
- Utilized a cross-sectional study design with 8,992 participants completing questionnaires.
- Assessed workplace bullying, work stress, and sickness absence days over the past year.
Purpose:
- To determine the association between workplace bullying and increased sickness absenteeism.
- To evaluate workplace bullying as a significant stressor in the work environment.
Summary:
- Workplace bullying was identified in 7.2% of respondents, with an average of 7.4 sickness absence days.
- Logistic regression revealed that bullying is linked to more sickness absence days, even after controlling for various demographic and psychosocial factors.
- Men exposed to bullying had 1.62 times higher odds of sickness absence, while women had 2.15 times higher odds.
Impact:
- Confirms that bullied workers experience higher sickness absenteeism compared to non-bullied colleagues.
- Supports viewing workplace bullying as an extreme stress condition impacting worker health.
- Suggests that interventions against workplace bullying can improve worker well-being and reduce company costs associated with absenteeism.
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