Why the insurance industry needs to take bullying and harassment seriously
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More than one-quarter (27%) of employees across Britain’s insurance industry have experienced unacceptable behaviour in their workplace, despite almost all (93%) saying that knowing their employer takes bullying and harassment complaints seriously is an important factor to their overall happiness at work.
We’ve released these insights to encourage companies across the UK to take a preventative approach to tackling problematic behaviour in the workplace.
Our research also uncovered that 33% of the UK’s insurance industry feel more likely to experience something they would describe as bullying or harassment in the workplace, compared to just 18% who feel more likely to bear the brunt of such behaviour while working from home. It’s positive to see a decrease, but 18% is still a significant number when we’re talking about the safety and happiness of your people.
It’s clear that bullying and harassment is prevalent in many workplaces and employers need to do more to tackle the problem. Our survey found that many employees are calling for their employers to put a platform in place in which individuals can provide anonymous feedback or report any instances of bullying and harassment, and this kind of insight must be acted on by employers if they want to attract and retain talent.
If incidents of problematic behaviour are left unchecked in a workplace, it can lead to significant cultural issues that will get worse over time. It can lead to people feeling unhappy which in turn can create high rates of absence or presenteeism, low productivity and high turnover of staff.
On bullying and harassment in the workplace, the research found that:
- 28% of insurance employees feel anxious about seeing somebody they have a negative relationship with when they go back to the workplace
- 26% of employees believe their employer could improve its culture and be more inclusive by providing a place to give anonymous feedback
- 25% are more likely to report an incident now they’re working from home
- 20% have witnessed unacceptable behaviour in their workplace
- 19% say their employer could improve its culture and be more inclusive by providing a platform to speak out about bullying and harassment
- 19% would report an incident to their line manager but would feel worried about the repercussions
- 13% would report an incident, but only if they could do so anonymously
- 10% say they have experienced serious bullying and harassment in the workplace
- 10% know somebody else that something serious has happened to in the workplace
Culture Shift exists to lead positive change in workplace culture, through building products that empower organisations to tackle harassment and bullying. Our proprietary online reporting platform gives businesses the insight they need to monitor and prevent bullying and harassment, and support anybody who experiences it, either in the office or remotely.
By providing clear and safe reporting pathways, organisations can encourage a speak up culture. Employers in the insurance industry should not only signpost to these platforms, but actively encourage employees to use them, with those that do speak out against bullying encouraged and supported for doing so, rather than perpetuating any stigma.
Taking a proactive and preventative approach to tackling negative and harmful behaviours, will in turn help protect company culture and employee wellbeing.
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The NDA Ban Under the Employment Rights Act: What It Means for HR
When you can no longer buy silence, you have to invest in safety. That's the shift HR teams now need to plan for. Some organisations have historically leaned on settlement agreements and non-disclosure agreements to resolve harassment complaints quietly, keeping the details contained and the reputational risk low. The Employment Rights Act 2025 closes that option down. Once the NDA ban comes into force, a culture of silence stops being something the law will let you enforce.
Third Party Harassment: The Blind Spot in Most Workplace Harassment Policies
Most harassment policies are built around one scenario: two colleagues, one incident. But a lot of harassment comes from outside the organisation - customers, clients, patients, delegates - and the law is catching up. Learn what third party harassment looks like in practice, where employer liability stands under the Worker Protection Act, and what changes from October 2026 under the Employment Rights Act, including a higher bar for "reasonable steps" and liability from the first incident.
Feeling inspired?
Take the first step toward preventative misconduct management with a demo of our Report + Support™ platform. We can show you how to breakdown reporting barriers with anonymous 2-way messaging, and how to act before things escalate with name-matching and pattern-spotting across our analytics dashboard.
