Introduction Workplace bullying is associated with several health outcomes, including musculoskeletal pain. Most studies on the subject are from high-income countries. Studies on the relationship between bullying and neck pain are scarce, and no studies were found in low- and middle-income countries.

Objectives Therefore, we aimed to examine the association between workplace bullying and neck pain among civil servants from a state in southern Brazil.

Methods This is a cross-sectional study with 1,615 judicial civil servants from a Brazilian state. Workplace bullying was measured by the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-r) and Neck Pain by the Nordic Questionnaire for Musculoskeletal Symptoms (NQMS). Logistic regression was used to estimate prevalence odds ratios (POR) and test associations of interest.

Results The prevalence of workplace bullying was 17.8%. The overall prevalence of neck in the last 7 days was 45.3%. After controlling for sex and age, workplace bullying was strongly associated with neck pain (POR=1.74; 95% CI: 1.34–2.25). The association remained significant in the full model, after adjustment for sex, age, skin colour, body mass index, educational level, job type, ergonomic factors and physical inactivity. The odds of neck pain in the last 7 days were 52.0% higher among bullied workers (POR= 1.52; 95% CI: 1.15–2.00), compared to non-bullied employees.

Conclusions Workplace bullying may increase the risk of neck pain in civil servants, particularly in middle-income countries like Brazil. Etiological hypotheses were raised. Interventions to minimize the burden of neck pain may focus on psychosocial factors at work, particularly bullying. Further longitudinal studies should also evaluate this association, investigating possible causal paths, mechanisms and mediation.