Workplace bullying is not rare — and the response is not improving
Despite being recognised by the World Health Organization as a form of workplace violence, bullying is still not treated as a serious health and safety risk.
Workplace bullying is often spoken about as if it’s rare. The reality is very different.
In our new research The Irish Workplace Bullying Report 2026, we asked more than 2,000 HR professionals and business leaders about their experiences with bullying.
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85% of respondents said they have handled at least one bullying complaint during their career. Nearly half have dealt with between three and 10 cases, and almost two-thirds have managed a complaint in the past 12 months alone.
After years working as an investigator and HR leader, these findings didn’t surprise me. They confirm what many of us already see: bullying is not an outlier — it is a persistent feature of working life.
There is also little evidence that the problem is improving. More than half of respondents (55%) believe complaint levels have either stayed the same or increased over the past five years. Just 14% have seen a decrease.
So are we seeing more bullying, or simply more reporting? It is likely a mix of both. Awareness has improved, but understanding hasn’t kept pace. Too often, behaviours are dismissed as “management style” or “personality clashes” until they escalate.
We invest when it comes to physical health and safety. Employees are trained on how to operate machinery, how to sit at a desk, and how to manage manual handling risks. Yet when it comes to the impact of bullying on mental and physical health, the same urgency is missing.
Despite being recognised by the World Health Organization as a form of workplace violence, bullying is still not treated as a serious health and safety risk. Instead, it is often minimised — particularly when the behaviour is associated with a high-performing manager.
In those situations, the instinct is to protect performance rather than address conduct, and to question the person raising the concern rather than the behaviour itself.
The consequences are real. More than half of respondents (54%) said they had personally experienced bullying. Of those who raised a complaint, only 55% said it was investigated. For many, the outcome is exit: 67% went on to leave their organisation, with 80% saying it was the main reason.
Organisations often talk about retention. Yet here is one of the clearest drivers of attrition, and it is being allowed to continue.
Ultimately, bullying is not just an HR issue — it can become a personal injury issue. Case law has shown that where bullying results in a recognised psychiatric injury, the consequences are serious and often costly. Yet it still does not receive the same level of attention as other workplace risks.
Another consistent pattern is where complaints are directed. Most are raised against people in positions of power. 70% involve senior leaders, executives or managers, and over half are specifically against managers.
Those raising concerns are not typically junior employees. In fact, 60% of respondents said complaints are most often made by experienced staff who are not in management roles — people who understand workplace norms and are often reluctant to come forward unless the situation has become untenable.
The behaviours reported are also telling: unfair treatment, intimidating or threatening conduct, and the undermining of performance. These are not isolated incidents; they are patterns that can quietly dismantle confidence and, over time, careers.
On paper, most organisations appear to be doing the right thing. Almost all respondents (94%) said their organisation has an anti-bullying policy in place. But policy is not protection.
More than a third of organisations (38%) provide no training on workplace bullying. Where training does exist, it is often limited to induction, with fewer than half providing it on an ongoing basis.
This is where the real gap lies. Managing people — and managing conflict — is a skill. Yet many managers are expected to handle complex issues with little or no formal training.
There is also a clear gap between confidence and capability. 63% of respondents said they feel confident in handling bullying complaints. Yet 71% have conducted investigations, while only 56% have received any formal training.
In other words, people are handling high-stakes situations without the tools to do so — and many don’t realise what they don’t know, creating an unsustainable situation.
Investigations require structure, judgement and skill. They are not intuitive. Confidence without competence affects outcomes and erodes trust. So where does that leave organisations?
From my perspective, one step stands out: invest properly in management capability. That means moving beyond policies and one-off training. It means equipping managers to recognise bullying and act early, fairly and consistently.
Because until organisations stop tolerating bad behaviour — especially when it delivers results — and start treating bullying as the health and safety risk it is, nothing will change.
And the cost of that inaction is already clear.
- Mary Cullen is the founder and director of Insight HR.
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