Employment law specialists Peninsular have issued the results of a study amongst 800 staff in companies across the UK and all said they had taken part in a practical joke played against one or more of their colleagues.

However the firm warn that practical jokes can often be only humorous to those who are not the victim and as such those who play the pranks could find themselves facing allegations of workplace bullying which could end up in front of an employment tribunal.

The survey found that over two thirds of those questioned said they had not given any great thought to the impact of what they were doing when they carried out the practical jokes and had never stopped to think of how the victim felt.

However the majority of those questioned also said that they had felt bullied when they had been on the receiving end of such a joke.

Companies in the United States have already banned any type of practical jokes within the workplace amid fears of legal action from employees who feel victimised by such actions.

The survey identifies some of the practical joked which could be deemed as workplace a harassment and bullying.

These include placing signs or stickers on the employee saying such things as “kick me” which encourage others to ridicule the employee or unscrewing the lid on the salt and pepper cellar leaving the victim to pour the content of the cellar into their food thereby making it inedible.