20% in U.S. find workplace hostile or threatening
By Paul Wiseman, AP
The American workplace is grueling, stressful and hostile.
So concludes an in-depth study of 3,066 U.S. workers by the Rand Corp., Harvard Medical School and UCLA. Among the findings:
• Nearly 1 in 5 workers — a share the study calls “disturbingly high” — say they face a hostile or threatening environment at work, which can include sexual harassment and bullying. Workers who have to face customers endure a disproportionate share of abuse.
• Nearly 55 percent say they face “unpleasant and potentially hazardous” conditions.
• Nearly three-quarters say they spend at least a fourth of their time on the job in “intense or repetitive physical” labor.