It's sad but true. It seems as though how you look is still a major factor when it comes to your working life.

New research by the Michigan State University in the US has discovered that "unattractive" workers were more likely to be harrassed by colleagues and treated more harshly when it came to promotions at work.

The researchers found that being "ugly" actually seemed to be more of a factor in how employees were treated than how long the person had worked there, gender or age.

Led by associate professor of management Brent Scott, the Michigan study is the first to find a relationship between bullying and attractiveness in organisations.

114 workers at a health care facility were surveyed and each asked how often their colleagues "engaged in cruel behaviour" towards them. Saying hurtful things, behaving inappropriately and mocking and jeering all featured in their comments.

Then, a separate group of people, unaffilated with the health care workers, were shown photos of all  workers and asked to judge how attractive each of them were.

The study found a correlation between workers who were considered less attractive, and those who had reported higher incidents of bullying in the workplace. 

"We like to think we're professional and mature in the workplace, it can be just like high school in many ways" said Scott.

"Our findings revealed that both personality and appearance matter," he said. "Frankly, it's an ugly finding."