BACKGROUND: Workplace bullying is considered as a major job stress factor and is associated with mental disorders. To date, there was no validated French version of the "Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror" (LIPT), considered to be the instrument of reference. The objective of this study was to elaborate this French version and to explore its factorial, convergent and predictive validity. METHODS: The present study was based on a large sample of men and women of the working population asked to participate to a cross-sectional survey by a network of 143 occupational physicians in the South-East of France. This study included 7694 subjects, 3132 men and 4562 women, who responded to the anonymous self-questionnaire including the French version of the LIPT. This version was obtained by a standard forward/backward translation procedure. RESULTS: The LIPT allows to evaluate the 12-month prevalence of exposure to 45 forms of bullying. The analysis of an open question asking for other potentially missing forms of bullying underlined the satisfactory coverage of the LIPT. The study of the factorial validity showed a satisfactory coherence in the interpretation of the factors obtained. Leymann defined workplace bullying by the exposure to at least one form of bullying, weekly or more, and for at least six months. The convergent and predictive validity were increased when this definition was combined with the self-report of being exposed to bullying. CONCLUSION: This study is the first one elaborating and validating the French version of the LIPT by Leymann. This step of development and validation of the French version of questionnaires seems crucial to set up future high-quality studies, and to allow comparisons at the international level. Workplace bullying seems to be a serious problem in the French working life given the prevalence observed here (around 10%). Forthcoming studies should prefer using such validated questionnaire to better understand and prevent this occupational risk factor.