WHEN
BOSSES MAKE YOU SICK

Topics: Criticism; Employees; Employers; Health; Stress

References: Mark 10:42–45; Ephesians 6:5–9; Colossians 4:1; James 5:1–6; 1 Peter 3:8–17

Research in England revealed that employers who unfairly treat their employees can actually make them sick. That’s according to a study in which 6,400 civil servants in London were asked questions such as, “Do you ever get criticized unfairly?” and “Do you ever get praised for your work?”

A follow-up study ten years later showed that men who reported low scores on their bosses’ fairness were 30 percent more likely to have coronary heart disease, which is the number-one killer in Western societies. Ongoing stress is a major contributor to this affliction.

Labor experts say the effect on employees’ health might be even greater in the United States than in Britain, since workers in the United States spend more time at their jobs than their overseas counterparts.

—“When the Boss Is a Jerk,” The Week (November 11, 2005)