A new national employee survey by RemoteWorker highlights how toxic workplaces still are in the UK, with millions of workers choosing to work from home to avoid bullying, homophobic behaviour and even sexual harassment. 

The extensive national survey showed a staggering one in five (16%) employees have witnessed homophobic behaviour in their workplace.

It also showed that a third of employees (31%) stated they had witnessed sexist behaviour and that 17 percent had actually seen sexual harassment taking place in their workplace. 

 

What were the most common inappropriate behaviours in toxic workplaces?

Bullying (42%), offensive comments (37%) and discrimination (31%) topped the list of inappropriate behaviours that employees witnessed in the UK.

The survey painted a stark picture of the modern workplace and highlighted why so many workers prefer to work from home. 

Nearly all employees surveyed, 96 percent, said that working from home full or part-time was one of the most positive parts of their job. 

 

 

Joe Boll, CEO at RemoteWorker, commented:

“We believe every employee should have the choice to work independently from an office or workplace if possible. This is why we use the most cutting-edge tech to make it easy for anyone to find a new remote working role. 

“Our national employee survey has highlighted just how toxic many UK workplaces still are for many employees which is why employers need to offer roles that have the option to work remotely when looking to attract the best talent.”

 

 

Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.