Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
- Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, which detrimentally affects the work environment, or leads to adverse job-related consequences for victims of harassment. In order for behavior to be considered sexual harassment, it must contain three elements.
- It is of a sexual nature.
- It is unwelcome.
- It has detrimental consequences.
- There are two types of sexual harassment.
- Quid Pro Quo – This type of harassment occurs when an employer says that s/he will give an employee this job, this promotion, this benefit, for that sexual favor.
- Hostile Environment – This type of harassment is much more difficult to pin down. It occurs when the harassing behavior creates a hostile, negative work environment for the employee.
Here are Seven Behavior Categories
- Sexual teasing, remarks, jokes, or questions
- Pressure for dates
- Letters, e-mail, telephone calls, or materials of a sexual nature
- Sexual looks or gestures
- Deliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, or pinching
- Pressure for sexual favors
- Actual/attempted sexual assault or rape
- It’s important that we have a common sense approach when arriving to work.
- Stay professional in the office.
- Wear appropriate clothing, don’t touch your co-workers, and don’t tell sexual stories or jokes.
- Before you speak, think, “Is this really appropriate for the workplace?”
- Apologize.
- If you speak or behave in a way that is inappropriate, apologize and make an effort to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
When someone bullies in school and they’re behavior is not corrected the bullying eventually moves right into the workplace. Don’t think for a moment that a workplace bully just started that particular behavior, it was developed over a long period of time. The best way to stop bullying is to report it immediately to your supervisor and document every situation; this is for your protection.
If you’re looking for a workplace bullying speaker please contact us at reportbullying.com
