TalentLMS, a leading employee training platform, has released a new survey revealing deep gaps between how protected employees feel and how organizations actually respond to misconduct, highlighting widespread fear, silence, and unequal accountability in today’s workplaces.
Based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. employees, 71% say they feel protected at work. However, their experiences suggest otherwise. The data show that workplace misconduct is more common across organizations.
Over one-third (36%) have witnessed and 33% have experienced incivility or disrespect. Almost a third (29%) have witnessed and 24% have experienced professional or social exclusion. One-quarter (25%) have witnessed and 21% have experienced retaliation for speaking up.
Why this matters: The findings also point to significant business risk. More than three in four employees (77%) say they would consider leaving their job if they didn’t feel protected, directly linking employees’ sense of safety to retention.
A lack of fair consequences appears to be a major driver of mistrust. Nearly two out of three (62%) employees agree that misconduct is more likely overlooked when the person involved is a top performer or leader. Nearly half (45%) say they’ve seen people promoted even after mistreating others. Almost half (47%) say managers discourage employees from escalating harassment or discrimination complaints, and 42% worry that speaking up will label them as “difficult.”
Despite its prevalence, workplace misconduct often goes unreported, with 25% of employees saying they didn’t report incidents they witnessed or experienced. Employees cite believing reporting wouldn’t make a difference (56%) and fear of retaliation (36%) as the main reasons for staying silent.
Training seems to remain a credible lever for change. Approximately 60% of employees say compliance training has improved behavior in their workplace, but many say it falls short of reflecting workplace realities. Nearly half (45%) say compliance training is disconnected from real situations employees face at work, and 36% believe better compliance training—focused on realistic scenarios and practical skills—would reduce misconduct at work.
Access to training is also uneven: One in five employees received no compliance training in the past year, and only 33% received DEI training. Notably, 31% say they feel less protected as their company has pulled back from DEI initiatives.
“Training influences how employees respond to situations they face at work,” says Theoni Velkou, compliance manager and data protection officer at Epignosis, the parent company of TalentLMS. “When compliance training reflects real workplace scenarios, it helps people recognize misconduct, understand what steps they can take, and feel more comfortable speaking up. That kind of practical training builds stronger trust across the organization.”
