Bullying at work: do industries differ in the Estonian case? Kas psühholoogilise töövägivalla levik on majandus-sektorites erinev: olukord Eestis?

Abstract

The bullying at work has not so far analyzed in Estonia – its dispersal, causes and impact have not studied, while in the countries with long democratic traditions it has been the actual problem of work context for two decades. The current study examines the prevalence of workplace bullying in Estonian organizations and the extent of the problem by industries because bullying may put impact on the employees´ efficiency. The sample consists of 1941 respondents which covers 59 organizations across Estonia and represents in all over 30 000 employee and the unemployed. The results reveal that bullying poses a serious problem in Estonia. According to Leymann´s criteria (1996) at least one negative act per week with a duration of at least 6 months, has been reported by 23,44% of respondents. Although, it came out that bullying is not sector-specific problem in Estonia, several and different industries are vulnerable from bullying.