Parents and educators are probably familiar with the term “cyber-bullying.” But studies show it’s a problem at work, too.

In a recent survey by a UK-based organization, one in five workers said they’d been bullied at work via e-mail, and one in ten said they thought electronic bullying was a problem in their workplace. Granted, that was a survey of British workers, so it’s possible they just aren’t as good at face-to-face conflict as we are over here. Nonetheless, we’d probably see similar results in a survey of American employees.

Why cyber-bullying? For one thing, it’s easier to stay anonymous and keep victims, bosses and HR managers from finding out who said what. Also, more interaction between employees in general takes place electronically now, so it makes sense for negative interactions to follow the same path.

And employers need to pay attention for the same reasons they need to pay attention to all types of bullying. First of all, it’s a morale-killer. Also, while there’s no anti-bullying law per se, if the harassment has anything to do with a victim’s race, sex, age or national origin (and it often does) companies could be on the hook for allowing illegal discrimination.

So what can employers do? Well, it’s impossible to keep an eye on every single thing employees do to each other, whether it involves a computer or not. But you can include a piece in your technology use policy saying that any harassment of co-workers by electronic means will not be tolerated. Let them know their actions might be monitored and that nothing people do online is ever really anonymous.

Also, like with all employee relations issues, when employees come to you with complaints about cyber-bulling, take them seriously and investigate fairly. When that happens, you might decide to closely monitor the alleged harasser’s computer use.

Tags: cyberbulling, cybersmear, workplace bullies