This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
President Obama held a White House conference this month to discuss ways to prevent bullying in school. But bullying is a problem not just among young people. Workplace bullying can involve threats, baseless criticism, discrimination and favoring some employees unfairly over others.
奥巴马总统本月在白宫举行会议讨论防止学校欺凌的办法。但欺凌不仅仅只发生在年轻人中间。工作场所欺凌行为包括威胁、毫无根据的批评、歧视以及对其他员工不公平的偏袒。
Thirty-five percent of Americans in a survey said they had been bullied at some time at work. The poll by Zogby International and the Workplace Bullying Institute found that another fifteen percent have witnessed it.
一项调查中的35%的美国人表示，他们曾在工作中遭遇欺凌。这项由佐格比国际和工作场所欺凌研究所联合进行的调查发现，还有另外15%的被调查者目击了欺凌。
What some workers might consider bullying by another worker or a supervisor might not be true. But experts say productivity suffers in workplaces where employers tolerate or accept bullying. People take sick leave more often. Some take legal action.
有些员工对来自其他员工或主管的欺凌的看法并不正确。但专家表示，在雇主放任欺凌的工作场所的工作效率会下降。员工经常请病假，部分员工会诉诸法律。
Jennifer Sandberg is a law partner in the Atlanta offices of Fisher & Phillips. She represents companies in labor cases. She says employers can avoid most problems simply by acting in a professional, businesslike way.
珍妮弗·桑德伯格（Jemmifer Sandburg）是费舍尔&菲利普律师事务所（Fisher & Phillips）亚特兰大办事处的法律合伙人。她代理公司的劳工案件。她说，雇主可以通过专业公正的方式避免许多问题。
JENNIFER SANDBERG: "The best advice I can give to managers and supervisors is not to worry about the law, but rather to be sure that their behavior is professional."
桑德伯格：“我能提供给经理和主管们的最好的建议是，不要担心法律，但要确保他们行事专业。”
She says this means that everyone plays by the same set of rules.
她说，这意味着每个人都要遵守相同的游戏规则。
JENNIFER SANDBERG: "There are still basic rules that every single person in an organization needs to follow."
桑德伯格：“在一个团队中，每个人都需要遵守的一些基本的规则。”
People who bully spend less time on productive work. They can make the workplace tense and unhealthy.
欺凌者投入到有效工作上时间更短。他们会使工作场所气氛紧张不安。
Executive coach, CNN commentator and author Lauren Mackler calls it a "toxic" environment. She advises people to avoid emotional conflict and child-like reactions when faced with insulting criticisms.
行政教练、CNN评论员和作家劳伦·麦克勒（Lauren Mackler）称这是“有毒”的工作环境。她建议人们在面对无礼批评时避免情绪冲突和孩子般的逆反。
She also says people who show self-respect can be less likely targets of a bully. She gives examples like dressing well and looking people in the eye when talking to them.
她同时表示，自尊可以使成为欺凌目标的可能性降低。她举例说，穿戴整齐，和人说话时注视对方的眼睛。
And Lauren Mackler advises people who feel bullied to consider how the bully got that way.
麦克勒同时建议遭受欺凌的人们思考，欺凌者为什么会这样做？
LAUREN MACKLER: "You can equate the behavior with the degree of pain that the bully carries inside."
麦克勒：“你可以把这种行为和欺凌者背负的伤害程度划个等号。”
She says bullies were often bullied themselves as children.
她表示，欺凌者小时候也常遭欺凌。
LAUREN MACKLER: "That'll help you to have more compassion inside instead of judging the person and further feeding a toxic interaction."
麦克勒：“这将有助于你在内心深处对欺凌者更加同情，而不是对他下定论，并进一步还以颜色。”
But bullying can cause some people to leave their job. Ms. Mackler says replacing experienced workers can cost one and a half times their yearly pay, or even more.
但欺凌会导致一些人离职。麦克勒表示，更换有经验的员工会耗费其年薪的1.5倍，甚至更多。
Last April, Australia's Productivity Commission considered the cost of bullying in a report on workplace safety. The lowest estimate of the cost to the Australian economy ten years ago was six to thirteen billion dollars.
去年四月，澳大利亚生产力委员会在一份关于工作场所安全的报告中审议了欺凌耗费的成本。据最低估计，10年前澳大利亚经济为之损失为60～130亿美元。