LGB workers twice as likely to experience workplace bullying and discrimination

Lesbian, gay and bisexual workers are more than twice as likely to experience discrimination at work as their heterosexual colleagues, a national study has revealed.

More than 1,200 employees were interviewed by academics from Plymouth University and the Manchester Business School, with the results showing one in 10 LGBs had been subjected to discrimination in the last 12 months, as opposed to one in 20 heterosexuals.

Within the LGB group, lesbian and bisexual women reported even higher exposure to negative behaviour, with a third who said they are bullied reporting that they experience this on a weekly or daily basis.

And overwhelmingly, the main perpetrators of the bullying and discrimination were managers, with 44 per cent of respondents identifying someone senior to them as the culprit. By contrast, only 3 per cent stated they had been bullied by a subordinate.

Professor Duncan Lewis, from the Graduate School of Management at Plymouth University, said: “The findings of our study are truly shocking, and suggest that although progress has been made in British workplaces regarding equality and sexuality, much more work needs to be done. This research has been the most challenging work I have ever undertaken, and the challenges of obtaining interviewees prepared to talk to us about, not only sensitive issues such as discrimination and bullying, but also about their sexuality, was a monumental task.”

Despite 85 per cent of respondents feeling confident about exercising their rights in instances of discrimination, almost one in four who had experienced bullying ‘did nothing’ about it.

Startlingly, of those who did lodge a formal complaint with their employers, only one in three said that a formal investigation took place.

Helge Hoel, Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Manchester Business School, said: “LGBs are exposed to intrusive and sexualised behaviour far more frequently than their heterosexual colleagues, as well being as being at risk of social exclusion at work. And whilst negative stereotypes play a key role in many bullying scenarios, they are often denied and are rarely confronted openly in the debate about bullying and homophobia, possibly because apparently many LGBs themselves subscribe to such stereotypes.

“The most surprising finding is that so many people, colleagues and managers alike, believe it is up to LGBs themselves to put a stop to such unwanted behaviours and set the necessary boundaries, instead of intervening directly when confronted with examples of behaviours that are socially unacceptable. These findings have a number of clear implications for employers and managers, who need to act if progress is to be made on the problems we’ve identified.”

The findings of the research study, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, are being unveiled at a workshop and panel discussion hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London today (Thursday). The full report can also be viewed online at http://lgbatwork.portals.mbs.ac.uk.