When anti-bullying NGO bBrave and PwC asked more than 2,400 people about bullying and ostracism at work in Malta, the answer was sobering: 40% said they had been bullied in the previous year.
“For almost half of our workers to claim to feel bullied at work was not something that even bBrave was expecting,” admits bBrave president Aaron Zammit Apap.
For him, the statistic that really catches his breath is that within that bullied group, 9% reported self‑harm or suicidal thoughts or behaviour. “For every 100 workers, almost four were contemplating hurting – or had even proceeded to hurt – themselves,” he says.
“It’s not just you. And it’s not just harmless”
Bullying at work in Malta is mostly psychological or emotional – around 80% of cases – and it often arrives dressed up as pressure, banter, or the all-too-familiar excuse “that’s just the way things are here”.
It can be constant criticism, deliberate exclusion from information, gossip, being left out of meetings, or “jokes” that everyone knows are really digs.
In a small country, power can also come from who you know, not what you do. bBrave often hears about colleagues who behave as if they are untouchable because they are related to the owner, the HR manager or the CEO.
‘Adult thugs’: one woman’s story
Anabel* thought she was getting a dream job in a growing international company when she joined as a sales manager in 2021. Instead, she walked straight into what she now calls “adult thugs with job titles” – a phrase that sounds dramatic until you hear what came next.
Within weeks she saw colleagues resign en masse, senior staff storm out and a stream of people quietly disappearing.
Reporting lines were unclear, complaints were shunted into WhatsApp instead of official channels, and local employment law was waved away with “we follow foreign rules”.
Over time, the behaviour turned personal.
She describes toxic messages from a long‑standing staff member, exclusion from team events and meetings, and constant harassment about targets she had never been allowed to help set.
When she finally filed a formal grievance, she was pushed out and even physically removed from her desk. Her case eventually went before the Industrial Tribunal – which later found in her favour – but by then the damage to her health was done.
Living alone in Malta, without family support, she spent evenings trying to make sense of what was happening. She read psychology books. She learned the names for what she was seeing: manipulation, DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender), and gaslighting.
“True success isn’t built by climbing over the broken backs of others,” she says. “You don’t win in life through abuse.”
Bullying victim Anabel*
“I realised I wasn’t just dealing with challenging colleagues,” she says. “I was facing something far more deliberate and destructive.”
A colleague eventually pulled her aside and said: “Put yourself first. You don’t deserve this treatment, and they don’t deserve you.” That was the moment she knew she had to speak up.
When bullying hits the bottom line
bBrave’s study helps explain why Anabel’s story feels so familiar to many Maltese workers. Over 70% of bullied respondents said their experience led to increased stress.
“We often hear of how those being bullied at work end up taking it out on their loved ones at home,” says Zammit Apap, adding that patients and clients also feel the impact when staff are distracted or afraid. Almost 40% of bullied workers said they had resigned or were planning to resign because of bullying. That is an enormous loss of talent – in an economy that already struggles to find and keep skilled people.”
Bullying also hits the national wallet – hard.
By factoring in absenteeism, presenteeism, lower productivity and turnover, bBrave and PwC estimate that workplace bullying may be costing Malta around 4% of its GDP. “Hundreds of millions are being wasted because of the toxicity of this behaviour,” Zammit Apap says.
One statistic he finds particularly telling is this: 88% of bullied respondents said the bullying took place in front of others. “Perhaps overlooked by some, but to us, this statistic makes a bold statement: in Malta we have a bullying culture.”
When ‘just joking’ turns toxic
So where is the line between pressure and abuse? When bBrave visits workplaces, the “banter versus bullying” debate comes up every time. Their rule of thumb is simple and bears repeating: a joke is only a joke if everyone is laughing.
“The moment one person does not appreciate the joke, then the line is crossed,” Zammit Apap says. “It doesn’t matter that a person is overly sensitive – if you know it hurts them and you do it anyway, what is the point?”
“Almost 40% of bullied workers said they had resigned or were planning to resign because of bullying. That is an enormous loss of talent – in an economy that already struggles to find and keep skilled people.”
bBrave president Aaron Zammit Apap
Anabel’s experience also shows how much depends on culture and HR. Her former employer had policies on bullying, but in practice they were “just wallpaper”.
Those who spoke up “disappeared”. She advises targets never to go into a difficult meeting alone and to document everything – emails, dates, who said what, who was in the room – and, where legally allowed, to record key conversations.
Meanwhile bBrave argues that HR should not act as the “long arm of the CEO” but as a guardian of wellbeing, ready to challenge toxic behaviour even when it comes from high performers or long‑serving staff.
Rewriting the script
There are reasons for cautious hope.
Both government and opposition have backed the idea that employers of a certain size should be legally required to have an anti‑bullying policy, and opposition MPs have already tabled a private member’s bill in Parliament. Government has also formally tabled the bBrave study in the House.
88% of bullied respondents said the bullying took place in front of others. “Perhaps overlooked by some, but to us, this statistic makes a bold statement: in Malta we have a bullying culture.”
bBrave president Aaron Zammit Apap
But Zammit Apap is clear that “having policies is a great thing” only if they are backed by a culture that truly refuses bullying. For him, that means leaders who act quickly when a case arises, and colleagues who stop being silent witnesses:
“We need to tackle that 88%, that portion of the working population that feels comfortable bullying in the presence of others.”
For Anabel, the turning point came when she found support – lawyers who believed her case, a new manager who listened and acted, and counsellors through bBrave who helped her “swap a cloak of shame for a cloak of bravery”.
Today she says she will never again join a workplace that cannot outline how it protects people psychologically. “True success isn’t built by climbing over the broken backs of others,” she says. “You don’t win in life through abuse.”
If you recognise yourself in any of this, the worst thing you can do is nothing, and the hardest thing can be saying it out loud. Keep records, speak to someone you trust, and get help. Call 1579, the national 24/7 Mental Health Helpline, or visit bBrave’s “I NEED HELP” page at bbrave.org.mt. The NGO also offers free counselling to people experiencing bullying.
No job is worth your health – and no bully deserves the silence that keeps them powerful.
*Name changed; details are summarised from her account and anonymised Tribunal records.
