Almost 17% of employees in the Czech Republic have personally encountered bullying in the workplace, according to new survey data.
The behavior ranges from outright aggression to ridicule by coworkers, with supervisors responsible in over half the reported cases. An additional 25% of workers say they have witnessed bullying, though the actual numbers may be higher due to some respondents choosing not to answer.
“Nearly 6% of people indirectly admitted to having behaved inappropriately toward a colleague,” said František Boudný from the recruitment agency Předvýběr.CZ. The survey was conducted by Talk Online Panel on behalf of the agency.
More than half of the incidents—51.6%—were reportedly initiated by a direct supervisor. In 45% of cases, the offender was a colleague. About 11% pointed to group bullying by coworkers, while 8% cited subordinates as the aggressors. In 5% of instances, the perpetrator was an external party such as a client or customer.
“It’s disheartening that nearly a quarter of employees tried to resolve workplace bullying directly with the perpetrator but without success,” Boudný added. Nearly 12% of those surveyed admitted they did not react to bullying due to fear of consequences, while 18% felt that trying to resolve it would be pointless.
The most frequently reported form of bullying—experienced by 53% of affected individuals—involved baseless criticism or unfair performance evaluations. Continuous humiliation or ridicule followed closely, with nearly half of victims citing such behavior.
About one-third of respondents said they had experienced shouting or verbal attacks.
Other reported tactics included deliberately withholding information, excessive oversight, and micromanagement. Roughly 20% of bullied workers also reported experiencing threats or coercion.
The anti-bullying platform NNTB (Don’t Let It Be), initially designed to combat school bullying but now expanding to workplace issues, warns that harassment at work is an increasing problem. In the last year, reports of bullying made up a significant portion of cases received.
“In 2023, bullying accounted for 11.7% of reports, and last year it rose to 13%,” said Jan Sláma on behalf of the platform.
