You’re enjoying some quality time with your family on a Saturday afternoon when your company cell phone gives the tell-tale beep that you’ve got a text message.

Laughing, you brush off the feigned tackle of your six year-old son and look down at the screen and your mood is instantly ruined. The numbing words on the screen silently scream at you: “YOU STUPID IDIOT”.

Your mood ruined, you walk away from your family in a daze. It’s as if you’ve been punched in the stomach. You’ve just been attacked by a cyber-bully. The perpetrator? A co-worker.

Now that technology is firmly entrenched in the workplace, some of the problems associated with all that technology are beginning to show up.

Because of the relative anonymity of the Web, aggressive employees are taking workplace aggressions out on co-workers and subordinates on company intranets, blackberries, and cell phones by sending threatening messages.

Many times employees are too shy, scared, or embarassed to call attention to this newest form of workplace violence. But, increasingly employees are beginning to speak up, albeit reluctantly.

Human Resources managers are starting to hear complaints of hateful comments leveled by way of technology and many times they’re unclear as to how to respond to the problem because many times there is no specific policy being violated. Further exacerbating the problem is the fact that HR managers don’t want to get involved in personnel issues that happen off company property – and time.

While cyber-bullying happens in all types of business, the problem seems to be most common in sales, media, marketing, and telecommunications firms. It happens least frequently in retail establishments. In retail, bullies tend to prefer face-to-face confrontation, in part because technology isn’t as heavily utilized by employees.

The problem is beginning to capture the attention of company executives though, because it’s beginning to affect their bottom line. Last year cyber-bullying resulted in a staggering $2 billion in losses due to lost time and productivity.

Policies are being enacted to address the problem by defining cyber-bullying and establishing clear protocols HR Managers can use to stop the bullies in their tracks.

Many employees who engage in bullying tactics don’t think they’re doing anything wrong. Others don’t care.

Cyber-bullies frequently complain that it’s not fair to penalize them for activities that many times occur away from work, but executives are unmoved. They point out that companies are with much greater frequency enforcing their will on employees away from work by banning smoking and drug use, and they see no difference.

Employees who feel they are being bullied should take steps to document the problem and report it to their superiors.

By stepping forward with accusations employees can assert themselves and stop the problem. And that’s good for business.

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