Almost a third of workers clash with their colleagues on a weekly basis.

The Retail Bulletin reports conflict is "rife in the workplace" despite 60 percent of the nation's workforce claiming conflict is unhealthy.

A study by international law firm Eversheds revealed if you work in retail, catering and leisure industries, finance, human resources or travel and transport then you are more likely to disagree with your colleagues than in other professions. However, the youngest workers experience the highest levels of conflict, with 45 percent of 16-24 year olds clashing with their colleagues at least once a week.

The behaviour most likely to cause the conflict is constant talking and interruption, refusal to work as a team and taking credit for other's work. A total of 40 percent said there was a known troublemaker in their workplace.

However, the majority of workers (56 percent) try to avoid it conflict. The research shows employees are most comfortable challenging peers or direct line managers, but shy away from possible conflict with their boss or those managed. A significant proportion of junior managers (68 percent) claim they find it difficult to challenge colleagues on their performance - particularly when it could be taken personally and cause offence.

Audrey Williams of Eversheds, said: “There is a fine line between healthy debate and a more heated situation, which can be counter-productive and result in divisive tensions within the workforce. It's no excuse for employers to say that conflict between staff is symptomatic of the working culture. Conflict that is left unchecked could lead to cases of bullying, harassment and stress, which could all result in litigation.

“Equally serious for businesses is the finding that employees, particularly junior managers, don't like challenging colleagues on their performance in case it causes conflict. This is a serious issue, particularly as the research shows that this reluctance to raise issues is fairly widespread. Anyone with line-manager responsibility should be trained to give feedback on performance in a constructive and clear manner - without this training, businesses are exposed to the risk of litigation.”