Workplace bullies could be affecting the bottom line, American psychologist Dr. Jay Carter is warning company bosses this week.

The author of `Nasty People' and former executive manager of IBM says victims of office tyrants were more likely to take sick days and eventually quit the company.

Dr. Carter said: "Any company of more than 50 people is likely to have a bully in there somewhere.

"If people aren't happy at work they will call in sick. And some of the time they are off sick will be spent applying for other jobs.

"This will increase staff turnover as you will have to find new employees."

He is giving tips at seminars in Bermuda on how to confront disruptive colleagues and he says management should learn how to spot bullies and deal with them or sack them.

For workers having to cope with bullying colleagues Dr. Carter said: "If someone says something sarcastic and you can't think of anything to say in 6.5 seconds then just get them to repeat what they said.

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"The chances are they won't try it again if you have caught them in the act.

"You have to confront them, similar to the way an addict's family confronts the person in their life with the addiction.

"You have to say to the bully that they are making a lot of other people unhappy."

He said victims of bullies should not take it personally but realise they are often merely bearing the brunt of the bully's own problems, often caused by the lack of a strong bond with an adult during their childhood.

In school bullies need tough love with firm discipline combined with nurturing says Dr. Carter.

"Ninety percent of the time they had physical abuse or heavy emotional abuse, the other ten percent of the time they weren't given limits so they were allowed to escalate things, even to the point of physical abuse."

He said bullies suffered from big egos caused by the lack of self esteem.

Bully facts:

An estimated six percent of the world's population are bullies;

16 percent of bullies have no conscience;

60 percent of bullies in school end up with a criminal record by the time they are 24-years-old;

Bullies, along with their victims, are six times more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the population; and

The majority of school bullies and their victims end up with mental health problems later in life.

Dr. Carter is giving a seminar on Dealing with Nasty People at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today and tomorrow. Entrance is $100 per person.