Employee relations handles some of the most important and consequential issues in the workplace, encompassing everything from bullying and harassment to appropriately terminating an employee. And some of the numbers may surprise you. According to HR Acuity’s 2025 Workplace Harassment and Misconduct Statistics, 55% of employees experienced or witnessed misconduct in 2025, a 14-point jump in a single year and a near seven-year high. Misconduct is also getting more complicated: 38% of employees encountered four or more distinct issue types, up 14 points from 2024.
While this is a hot topic, not every company has an employee relations specialist. Nor does every company apply its employee relations policies correctly. So how are managers responding, and what’s the impact on the workplace?
What are the 18 Most Surprising Employee Relations Statistics?
- Only 12% of U.S. employers act to eliminate workplace bullying.
- 25 % of workplace bullying cases are not investigated.
- 66% of employees say their direct manager has an impact on their career.
- 48 % of American adults report experiencing abusive behavior at work. Tweet this stat.
- 58.9% of organizations track employee relations matters.
- Give employees 30 days to change before initiating the firing process.
- 42% of companies have intra-office dating policies.
- One-in-four women are sexually harassed at work. Tweet this stat.
- 99% of organizations ban intra-office dating between employees and their supervisors.
- It takes 45 days to get new employees acclimated with their new job.
- Human resource managers spend 24%-60% of their time trying to resolve workplace conflicts. Tweet this stat.
- Almost 60% of human resource managers have seen violent incidents as a result of workplace conflicts.
- 22% of employees are less engaged at work because of workplace conflicts.
- 84% of senior business executives see favoritism in their own companies.
- Workplace bullying costs $250 million annually. Tweet this stat.
- 20% of turnover happens within the first 45 days.
- Out of the 46% of new hires who fail within the first 18 months, 89% was for attitudinal reasons, 11% was for lack of skill.
- 88% of companies plan to give pay raises, the average raise is 4.5%
Employee Relations Risk Reached New Heights in 2025
The statistics above set the stage. For the most current picture, our Tenth Annual Employee Relations Benchmark Study, which represents 8.8 million employees across 274 organizations, surfaced numbers every HR leader should have on their radar:
- Discrimination, harassment and retaliation allegations hit 15.5 per 1,000 employees, the highest in Benchmark history.
- Employee relations case volume rebounded to 145.5 per 1,000 employees, near the decade high set in 2022.
- Performance issues rose 27% and behavioral issues climbed 30% year over year.
- Political tensions drove higher case volume for 60% of organizations, even in a non-election year.
- 70% of organizations are now experimenting with or deploying AI for employee relations work.
- Case volume is climbing and the issues are getting more serious, but just one in four teams plan to hire in 2026. That gap between rising demand and flat staffing is the real story behind this year’s numbers.
There are specific ways to handle employee relations issues and staying organized is key. Employee relations solutions, like HR Acuity On-Demand, can keep your company in compliance in order to lower the risk of legal and financial litigation. Take our risk-free assessment to find out how you can better manage employee relations issues within your organization.
Photo Credit: hehaden via Compfight cc
