One in three rank-and-file Hospital Authority staff have been bullied at work, survey shows
Some 80 per cent of respondents said they would not seek help from the human resources department because they felt it was ‘useless’
One in three of the Hospital Authority’s rank-and-file staff have experienced some form of workplace bullying, with most of them saying they would not seek help from human resources as they do not think it would help, a union survey has found.
The Hospital Authority Employees General Union polled 202 authority staff members, such as cleaners, office workers and ward support staff from July to August. The survey found that 30 per cent have experienced bullying by their superiors.
It also found that 80 per cent of respondents would not seek help from the human resources department because they felt it was “useless”. Some 70 per cent said they wanted union representatives to be with them if they choose to complain.
While the survey did not ask for examples of bullying, the union said it has seen cases of verbal abuse and unreasonable treatment of staff.
“Some of the staff were crying when they came and sought help from the union. You could tell that they have been bullied for so long,” said the union’s secretary Wan Sui-kei, a hospital maintenance worker.
In a case last year, Wan said a pregnant cleaner was often asked by her superior to mop the wet floors at the hospital entrance on rainy days. The woman resorted to asking her husband to talk to her superior.