by Rose Miller, Pinnacle Human Resources, LLC
Workplace Harassment is a disturbing problem that has a negative impact not only on victims but also on the entire workplace. There are many kinds of harassment—all of them against the law and putting your organization at risk.
Harassment on the job is a very real and serious problem. It shows up in workplaces large and small in all states—north and south, east and west, and everywhere in between. Unfortunately, despite many years of civil rights action, implementation of federal and state fair employment laws, and considerable progress on the part of most employers to combat employment discrimination, bias remains a pervasive and damaging problem in the workplace.
In fact, the number of harassment complaints filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, and state fair employment agencies has risen significantly. For example, in recent years there has been a fivefold increase in racial harassment charges and a tenfold increase in the number of racial harassment cases going to court. Furthermore, resentment of people from countries associated with terrorism has caused a new wave of harassment. And many workers of other ethnic origins also suffer from harassment on the job.
Workplace harassment can take many forms—for example, racial and ethnic slurs, threats, racial and sexual and ethnic jokes and labels, and derogatory comments about people because of their sex, religion or background. Often the harassment comes from co-workers. But sometimes members of management—especially supervisors—are also involved.
With the introduction of new technologies, employees have found new ways to harass each other. Some new terms are Virtual Harassment and Textual Harassment. Virtual harassment can take many forms including Sexting. That’s when sexually explicit messages or photos are sent by phone, email, texts or social websites. Recent news headlines will support the fact that this type of behavior is on the rise.
There is also Cyberstalking whereby a person follows and harasses an employee by following them on blogs, posts and social websites. Textual harassment involves sending intimidating, offensive or inappropriate text messages.
During workplace investigations, we hear a common statements from the accused. “But I was home on my own computer.”, or “I’m using my own phone.”, or “You can’t tell me what to post on my Facebook page.”, or “I wasn’t at work, what I do on my personal time is private.” What’s important to note here is that, no matter what form, illegal Harassment is illegal Harassment. When using technology, employees should be made aware that most forms of media are recorded and saved. They may be used in investigations. Rule of thumb – If it’s ok to print on the front page of the newspaper, then it’s ok to post or text it about an employee.
Employees should have no expectation of privacy when using company media systems. The Company’s harassment policy applies to all employees when in or out of the workplace. Harassing employees from Facebook or Twitter from home is still workplace harassment. Harassing behavior towards employees at places such as happy hours, social gatherings, clubs or other venues is still considered workplace harassment.
To prevent harassment and prevent liability as well, your company needs to develop a comprehensive policy that prohibits any form of harassment by anyone in your workplace. Be sure managers are trained on harassment policies, compliant procedures and anti-retaliation policies. Also make sure that your employees know about the harassment policy and understand its requirements. Be sure to explain the policy to new employees and give them a copy. Explain the complaint procedure, and assure employees that you will always listen to their complaints without fear of retaliation.
You also need to make it crystal clear to all employees—new workers as well as your veteran employees—that this policy will be strictly enforced. Let them know that the consequences of harassing a co-worker or retaliation against an employee claim include discipline and could even result in termination.
Review the policy periodically to maintain awareness. Make certain employees remain mindful of their rights and responsibilities under the policy. Also review the policy with all employees immediately following any incident of harassment in your department and keep a watchful eye for any behavior that seems to be retaliatory.
Also make note that not all complaints are necessarily true. If an organization has effective complaint and investigation procedures, illegal harassment problems can be identified and usually can be stopped and corrected long before a company is hauled into court, facing liability for illegal harassment.
Rose Miller
Pinnacle Human Resources, LLC
Albany, New York
Phone: 518-618-1150
Web: www.pinnaclehrllc.com