Young employees ‘need more protections’ against workplace violence: researchers

Iowa City, IA — Three out of 5 young employees have experienced some form of workplace violence, results of a recent study show.

Researchers from three universities analyzed survey results from more than 1,000 workers between the ages of 14 and 24. Sixty percent of respondents said they’d experienced workplace violence, with verbal abuse (53%) the most common. In addition, 24% reported having experienced sexual harassment.

Other findings:

• Female employees were more likely to experience workplace violence and sexual harassment, while their male counterparts were more likely to experience verbal abuse.
• Workplace violence was most common in health care and food services.
• Customer service workers reported the highest frequency of workplace violence.

“As labor restrictions for youth are loosening in some states, our research shows that young workers need more protections in the workplace,” study co-author Carri Casteel, professor of occupational and environmental health and director of the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center, said in a press release.

The study, which also involved researchers from Boise State University and the University of California, San Diego, was published online in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.