What Is Workplace Harassment? What Can You Do About It?
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Generally, there are policies and procedures to protect us at our workplaces. But when offensive behavior occurs what steps should you take? Having an understanding of workplace harassment and its several caveats will help you understand how to approach it, how to report it and ultimately, how to create safer workplaces with zero tolerance for harassment.??
By Helen Harris
Have you ever laughed at one of Michael Scott’s lines in “The Office”? Or perhaps you’ve binge-watched “Mad Men,” known for its mellow innuendos and office drama. While Michael Scott’s jokes may be funny and the 1960s New York ad agency Don Draper runs may seem exciting, the common thread in these shows is that they are littered with workplace harassment. This behavior in a real office, virtual or in-person, would be a red flag.?
While you may have several examples of what you think workplace harassment is, it’s essential to know the formal definition of the term.?
Understanding Workplace Harassment?
The formal definition of harassment is to create an unpleasant or hostile situation for someone with uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical conduct.
Meredith Holley, lawyer, life coach and bestselling author, explains that for harassment to be illegal, it has to target you because of a protected characteristic and be severe or pervasive.?
The U.S. Department of Labor defines protected characteristics as the following:?
Holley says that when it comes to sexual harassment, there are two categories: quid pro quo and a hostile work environment.
“Quid pro quo sexual harassment is when you're either given favors in exchange for accepting some kind of sexualized conduct or you're punished for rejecting it,” said Holley.
In addition to this information, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) states that every organization should outline a policy in clear, simple language and make sure that everyone within the company understands and agrees to that policy. The EEOC notes that an effective harassment prevention policy includes the following:?
Consider the findings from “The State of Workplace Harassment 2021” published by the AllVoices team:
While these statistics are already alarming, Holley believes many cases are still being overlooked — either due to someone not understanding that a certain behavior is wrong or fear of reporting the harassment.?
Workplace Harassment Examples?
Someone puts salt in your coffee instead of sugar as a prank. Your coworkers hide your bike every day. You walk in with a new haircut, and someone starts a group chat making a joke about it. Someone comments on your appearance in a sexual way and generally makes you uncomfortable.
None of these things are nice. But are they harassment? And what exactly constitutes sexual harassment??
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cites workplace harassment as unwelcome and offensive conduct based on race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), religion, disability, age (age 40 or older) or genetic information. Some examples the source mentions include the following:?
To formally define sexual harassment, Karin Bosman, CEO at Report App BV and CEO at About Workplace Harassment BV, states that is in the small differences in touch and tone that constitute whether or not someone feels harassed in a situation.?
For example, you may have no problem with someone touching your shoulder for an instant when saying “good job.” However, if that hand were to linger for too long and perhaps squeeze too tight, that could make someone uncomfortable.?
Another example is if someone compliments your clothing or appearance. This could be fine if they are saying you look nice. However, it’s said as they stare at certain parts of your body or said in a demeaning way — that could make you uncomfortable and may fall under sexual harassment.
“We only have seen a fraction of the hurt and the humiliation and the intimidation that women, in particular, are experiencing in the workplace,” said Bosman. “It's huge. And what does not help is that women who do speak up most of the time are not being supported by their female colleagues.”?
Holley adds that while it’s up to each person to decide where they draw the line, this “line” could vary incredibly from case to case.?
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“Everybody gets to set their own boundaries, and that really is individualized to what behavior we tolerate and don't tolerate,” said Holley. “For some, a one-time event can feel really severe, especially if they've had related trauma in their private lives or their childhood. A one-time event can really impact people differently. And it also depends of course on what the one-time event is.”
How To Address Sexual Workplace Harassment
If there has been a case of sexual harassment, you may be wondering, “How does someone go about reporting such a delicate matter?” It’s difficult, and probably why about three in four sexual harassment claims go unreported, according to a 2021 report from Urbanic & Associates.?
To help break this mold and get more victims speaking, Holley offers her advice to seek help early.?
“The most important thing if you're experiencing something that seems like harassment is to trust your instincts about it and not second guess yourself,” said Holley. “A lot of people think, ‘It can’t be that bad,’ ‘Did that really happen?’ or ‘I don't think it's going to happen again.’ And people do this sometimes for years. Until they come to me, and often they will have physical manifestations of the trauma such as hair loss, high blood pressure or ulcers.”
Next, Holley recommends deciding what type of action you want to take to protect yourself.?
“Make a commitment to yourself that you deserve to be safe in the workplace,” said Holley.?
She states that this looks different for each person, but notes that having a coach along the way can be a great resource to walk you through the emotions and technicalities of the process.?
“What I do is take people through a coaching program with tools to help them enforce their boundaries and understand what their boundaries really are,” said Holley. “There’s a difference between feeling disrespected and having your boundaries violated — these things deserve two different responses. So it's important to know the difference between the two.”?
Also, once understanding your boundaries and how to enforce them, Holley stresses the importance of building allies. Allies support you in your mission to enforce your boundaries and will help you on your quest to create a better, safer work environment.
Ultimately, Holley emphasizes the right for everyone to have a safe work environment and not need to leave a job because of harassment. In fact, she states that leaving a job because of one case of harassment and hoping that it’ll never happen again, while fleeing to another workplace isn’t always the right answer. Holley defines the term for this as a career refugee: someone who goes from job to job, hoping to find safe ground.?
“A lot of times people are overly optimistic that they're going to find another workplace and it's never going to happen to them again,” said Holley. “But sometimes there’s just not a comparable, especially if you're at a high level in your career. We deserve to have careers, and I think that there are solutions that can help people be safe and thrive in their career and also work in an office without experiencing abuse.”
Bosman explains that independent communication channels, such as the platform she has developed, allow employees to feel safe reporting any issues they may have. For instance, if someone is having an issue, they can log onto the application and work with confidential counselors who can help them address an unsafe situation. Counselors make it easier for them to discuss it with their employer.?
“There's a lot to learn and to educate on not only for men but also for women when it comes to approaching and preventing sexual workplace harassment,” said Bosman. “We keep on clinging to old methods to prevent such saying that there is a code of conduct, saying that there is a policy saying that you can go to HR. But, in fact, we know it's not enough because it hasn't protected women over the last past 100 years. We need a new approach, and that’s in the form of independent communication channels.”?
How To Build Safer Workplaces
Holley notes that ultimately, employees desire respect. And if the workplace is built on that value, more employees will feel comfortable addressing any concerns and nurturing a positive environment for everyone.?
“There's this rule with civil medical malpractice cases,” said Holley. “And the rule is that doctors who have good bedside manner — even if they're negligent in their practice — are vastly less likely to get sued than doctors who have bad bedside manners. And it's the respect that the patients experience that determines whether they're mad or not. I think the same is true in the workplace. This speaks to respect as really being the issue.”
Additionally, Bosman states that for workplaces to build safe environments, the leaders must ensure everybody feels comfortable with,?is agreeing on, and adhering to the code of conduct.?
“The code of conduct needs to be tested on a regular basis to determine if everyone is still agreeing on the policies,” said Bosman. “You need to have full support for your code of conduct. And you can only do that or create that if you are stimulating trust and not imposing trust.”
While the resources within the work environment are many, both Bosman and Holley agree that by outsourcing experts trained to deal with harassment and trauma that the work environment will be a safer, healthier place.?
“We should involve experienced experts because they have a different perspective,” said Bosman. “It's not up to the employer to decide if they are approachable or trustworthy. It's up to the employees to decide who they want to speak with. Everyone has a right to work in a safe workplace and feel protected by their employer.”
Top Takeaways?
What Is Workplace Harassment? What Can You Do About It?