Everyone has bad days at the office but for nearly three million people there is no such thing as a good day. Vicki Green reports on the world of office bullying.

Imagine waking every weekday morning filled with dread at the prospect of another day in the office, then spending every minute of the weekend hating time as it ticks away to Monday morning.

For some people this is the reality of their life and the reason behind their distress is workplace bullies.

Not everyone has a job which puts a spring in their step on a Monday morning but most people find the workplace a pleasant environment. There are some people, however, who are victimised, belittled and have their work constantly criticised by another member of staff.

When you enter your adult life, you expect to have left bullying behind in the playground, but for around three million UK employees, workplace bullying is all too common.

Bullying is the gradual wearing down process that makes individuals feel demeaned and inadequate, that they can never get anything right, and that they are hopeless, not only within their work environment, but also in their domestic life.

In 1996, the Institute of Personnel Development published the results of a survey revealing that one in eight UK employees had been bullied at work in the past five years.

Over half of those who have experienced bullying say it is commonplace in their organisation and a quarter say it has got worse in the last year. More than 18.9 million working days are lost each year as a direct result of workplace bullying.

Workplace bullying does not just have an effect on the victim, it has a knock-on effect for industry and it has been estimated by the UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Line that the annual cost to UK Plc is £30bn.

For more on bullies at work see tonight's 'Wednesday Spotlight' pages 8/9