Trouble at work

Public sector workers are under attack from customers, colleagues and managers, according to a new book by researchers from the School of Social Sciences. Trouble at Work shows that public sector workers are more likely to suffer ill-treatment, including violence, from the people they are meant to serve, but also from their colleagues and managers. Public sector workers are in this beleaguered position because they are more likely than private sector workers to experience the full range of factors that lead to ill-treatment. For example, workers in public administration and defence, and in health and social work, are experiencing a toxic combination of change in the workplace, losing control over their jobs, work-intensification and a pace of work they cannot keep up with. Other ingredients in the ill-treatment recipe are that public sector employees are more likely to have disabilities or long-term health problems, believe they compromise their principles at work, think their employer does not value them as individuals and that their employer always puts the needs of the organisation first. All these ill-treatment ingredients are likely to become more plentiful as more pressure is put on costs and the public sector shrinks. This effect is clear for most of the factors that lead to ill-treatment, such as work-intensification and reduced leeway to take individuals into account.