The employee relations software provider released findings from a survey of 2,043 U.S. employees showing that 55% experienced or witnessed workplace misconduct in 2025, a sharp increase from the previous year. The data suggests that while organizations have improved reporting and investigation processes since the #MeToo era, rising case complexity and uneven reporting behavior across workforce segments are creating new operational and legal challenges for enterprise HR leaders.
For much of the past decade, organizations invested heavily in workplace compliance initiatives following the global #MeToo movement. Companies expanded anti-harassment training programs, modernized reporting channels, strengthened employee relations workflows, and deployed new HR technology systems designed to improve case management and workplace investigations.
According to HR Acuity’s latest workplace misconduct study, those efforts initially appeared to work.
The company said misconduct rates had declined by 15 percentage points over five years as organizations strengthened employee relations infrastructure. But the 2025 findings indicate that trend may be reversing.
The survey found that 55% of employees either experienced or witnessed workplace misconduct during 2025, up 14 percentage points from 2024. At the same time, reporting rates reached record highs, with 78% of employees saying they reported incidents they experienced or observed.
The findings point to a more nuanced workplace environment emerging inside modern enterprises. Misconduct may be increasing, but employees also appear more willing to escalate concerns through formal channels.
That shift matters for HR technology vendors and enterprise employee relations teams alike.
As organizations expand digital workplace infrastructure and hybrid work arrangements, employee relations departments are handling a growing volume of more complex cases. HR Acuity’s data found that 38% of misconduct incidents involved four or more distinct issue types, up 14 points year over year.
The increase in case complexity is significant because employee relations investigations increasingly intersect with legal compliance, workplace culture management, cybersecurity evidence review, AI-generated communications, and remote workforce monitoring.
Deb Muller said the findings show employees are becoming more empowered to report misconduct and are increasingly using AI tools to help document or escalate concerns. That trend, she noted, is contributing to more sophisticated and multi-layered investigations.
The rise of AI-assisted reporting represents a broader shift occurring across HR technology platforms.
Enterprise HR teams are increasingly integrating automation, analytics, and AI capabilities into case management systems to help manage growing investigative workloads. Vendors across the HRTech sector are racing to position employee relations technology as a strategic risk management function rather than simply a compliance workflow.
The new data also highlights structural gaps in how organizations handle workplace misconduct reporting.
One of the study’s most notable findings is that misconduct appears most common in office environments, yet in-office workers are less likely to report incidents than remote employees. While 67% of employees experienced or witnessed misconduct in physical workplaces, only 76% reported it, compared with 86% of remote workers.
That discrepancy could become increasingly relevant as companies including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft continue refining return-to-office policies and hybrid workforce strategies.
Hourly workers also emerged as a particularly underserved employee segment in the research.
Only 63% of hourly employees reported misconduct concerns, and just 61% of their allegations were investigated, compared with reporting and investigation rates nearing 98% among executives. The findings suggest that access to reporting systems and confidence in organizational response may still vary significantly depending on role, seniority, and workplace visibility.
Anonymous reporting systems present another challenge.
While most organizations now provide anonymous reporting tools, only 56% of employees surveyed said they were aware those systems existed. Employees who knew anonymous reporting was available were nearly twice as likely to report misconduct.
The data reflects a larger issue facing enterprise HR teams: deploying workplace technology does not necessarily guarantee employee adoption or trust.
Fear of retaliation remains one of the biggest barriers to reporting.
Nearly half of surveyed employees cited retaliation concerns as a reason for staying silent, while only 46% of employees whose cases were resolved said they were monitored afterward for retaliation risks. That gap could become increasingly important as organizations face rising scrutiny around psychological safety, whistleblower protections, and workplace culture transparency.
The study also linked effective issue resolution to employer brand perception.
Among employees who experienced misconduct, employer recommendation scores rose from 36% to 55% when complaints were formally reported, investigated, and resolved. For enterprise HR leaders, the findings reinforce the idea that employee relations processes are no longer solely about compliance; they are increasingly tied to retention, talent acquisition, and workforce trust.
Industry analysts have warned that employee experience and workplace trust are becoming strategic differentiators in competitive labor markets. Gartner research has highlighted employee trust and organizational transparency as key priorities for HR leaders in 2026, while Forrester has identified employee experience technology as one of the fastest-growing segments in enterprise software spending.
For HR technology providers, the findings may further accelerate investment in AI-powered employee relations platforms, workplace analytics systems, and automated case management tools capable of handling rising investigation volumes and increasingly complex workplace dynamics.
Market Landscape
The employee relations software market is evolving rapidly as organizations modernize workplace compliance infrastructure and expand workforce analytics capabilities. HR technology vendors are increasingly embedding AI, automation, and behavioral analytics into employee relations platforms to support investigations, reporting workflows, and workplace risk management.
The trend comes as hybrid work, AI-generated communications, and distributed teams complicate traditional HR oversight models. Enterprise demand is shifting toward integrated platforms that combine case management, workforce sentiment analysis, compliance tracking, and retaliation monitoring into centralized HR operations systems.
Growing regulatory scrutiny and heightened employee expectations around workplace transparency are also driving investment in employee experience technologies across sectors including healthcare, retail, financial services, and technology.
Top Insights
- HR Acuity found workplace misconduct incidents increased sharply in 2025, signaling rising pressure on enterprise HR teams managing compliance, investigations, and workforce trust initiatives.
- Employee reporting rates reached record highs, suggesting organizations have improved workplace reporting systems and employee confidence following years of investment in employee relations technology.
- Workplace misconduct investigations are becoming significantly more complex as cases increasingly involve multiple issue categories, AI-assisted reporting, and hybrid workforce dynamics.
- Hourly workers and in-office employees remain less likely to report misconduct, highlighting persistent workforce inequities in access to employee relations systems and organizational trust.
- Fear of retaliation continues to suppress reporting behavior, creating new urgency for HR leaders investing in anonymous reporting tools and post-investigation monitoring programs.
Join thousands of HR leaders who rely on HRTechEdge for the latest in workforce technology, AI-driven HR solutions, and strategic insights
