Bonn, Germany  - Employers should not ignore an employee's complaints of mobbing, which is broadly defined as harassment ranging from verbal abuse, in person or on the telephone, to threats, gag orders, sexual harassment and physical violence.

A German publisher based in Bonn said ignoring the problem could have negative effects on the atmosphere in the office, and on productivity. In addition, ignoring mobbing could have legal consequences. Employers could be sued, for example, for failing to provide assistance.

Every day in Germany, an estimated 1.5 million employees are mobbed, according to the country's federal authority for worker protection and medicine. Nearly half or 43.9 per cent become ill following the period in which they were mobbed.

The cause of the mobbing cases are usually unresolved conflicts that have never been addressed by supervisors. Silence and passivity could also cause the conflict to escalate, the publisher said. This results in a periodic risk of valued employees taking sick leave or quitting.

Mobbing should be stopped as early as possible because the employer is responsible for protecting employees' mental and physical well-being while they are on the job.

It is becoming more and more common in Germany for labour courts to give mobbing victims the right to sue their employers. A court in Erfurt, in Thuringia state, allowed an employee, who was bullied by supervisors over a long period of time, the right to sue for damages. (dpa)