Plenty of people catch a cold from their co-workers, but now you can also blame them for becoming a jerk. 

A Harvard Business Journal study found rudeness is permeating the workplace, and unchecked impoliteness is a surprisingly common occurrence. The survey of 14,000 people found incivility can hurt a company's bottom line.

"Nearly everybody who experiences workplace incivility responds in a negative way, in some cases overtly retaliating," the journal reported. "About half deliberately decrease their effort or lower the quality of their work."

The survey found nearly half also spend less time at work, and 80 percent said the stress of incivility damaged their performance or work ethic. That can mean millions of dollars lost to rudeness, the report found.

The impact can also ripple through a workplace much like the flu does, according to a recently released University of New Hampshire study. Researcher Paul Harvey found co-workers recognize negative treatment and have a tendency to abuse other co-workers as a result.

A bullying boss or co-worker can leave a long-term impact on an employee, the study found.

Bruce Elliott, the manager of compensation and benefits for the Society of Human Resources Management, said the findings shouldn't be a surprise for any human resource manager.

Elliott said small inter-office issues can quickly lead to more complicated issues, and they can also lead to potential legal issues.

"It (incivility) doesn't impact just two employees," he said. "It can impact the entire team. It can distract co-workers and force human resource managers to get involved. I've seen it happen firsthand."

The indirect impact can add up to millions in lost revenue or productivity.

Cisco, a networking company, estimated it lost $12 million a year because of impoliteness in the workplace, according to the Harvard report. The company found the behavior can damage the company's reputation, lower productivity and taint perceptions.

Impoliteness can have such a damaging impact that a few companies – Four Seasons and Southwest Airlines – incorporate civility or politeness into their hiring process. However, those companies are a rarity. The Harvard survey found 11 percent of employers factor in civility into the hiring process.

The reason is as simple as the bottom line.

"One habitually offensive employee critically positioned in your organization can cost you dearly in lost employees, lost customers and lost productivity," the report found.