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A workplace may be an office, hotel, hospital, school, store, private home or even a factory. It can also be along the street, in a vehicle, airplane or while in a train. Harassment is feeling uncomfortable as a result of someone else’s verbal or physical actions that are intended to maliciously humiliate and undermine the individual. (Oppenheimer and Willy, 2002)
Workplace harassment is therefore the behavior of by which an individual abuses his or her colleagues either emotionally or verbally thus making the individuals uncomfortable. Workplace harassment is also known as bullying. Examples of abuses may be; use of offensive language, humiliation and isolation, threatening, yelling while giving instruction among others. It is especially constituted as a form of bullying when such actions results in adverse employment effects such as firing, demotion, suspension, significant change in the status of ones benefits, increased work assignment or transfers. (Oppenheimer and Willy, 2002)
Types of Workplace Harassment Sexual Harassment
It is particularly a common form of harassment that includes physical or emotional effects. Any unwelcome conduct or contact that touches on sexual privacy is sexual harassment. It affects both men and women although the latter are frequent victims. The following are incidences considered to be sexual harassment. (Oppenheimer and Willy, 2002)
o Asking questions or commenting about an individuals sexual life o Soliciting sexual favors in exchange for employment related services o Display of pornographic materials such as pictures, music, etc. o Whistling. o Touching, patting or kissing somebody without his or her consent
Organizational Harassment It usually occurs when a bigger and powerful organization subjects another organization to some sudden and extreme conditions or changes. A government might declare an organization bankrupt; it can also impose budget and financial constraints through heavy taxing and budget cuts. These and other external pressures constitute workplace harassment.
Serial Harassment It is a common form of harassment which involves individuals with frequent assault-like behavior. This group of persons moves around workplace insulting other employees, touching female colleagues and bullying anyone who dares them. This type of harassment is common among students
Client Harassment It is also called technical bullying because it involves people in authority. It is where employees are bullied by the same people they serve. It is common in workplaces such as hotels and restaurants where customers harass the waiters and cooks. Students can also harass their teachers, parents and support staff in their schools. A supervisor in an office or factory can harass the messengers, drivers and sectaries.
Corporate Harassment Due to perhaps some loopholes in the law or documented policies in a company, an employer can act in a manner to create difficulties for an employee. This may include soliciting for sexual favors in exchange for promotion, extending a contract or recruiting an individual to the company. These are general forms of harassment that are not only directed to a person but to a group of persons. Workplace harassment is considered a form of discrimination and it may come in the following examples; o Verbal insults and offensive remarks about ones body parts, looks, clothing, lifestyle etc. o Bad and undesirable jokes that touch individual’s family, race, language or religion. o Hanging racial, sexual and provoking material in a public office. o Avoiding, isolating and excluding an individual due to disability. o Leering and looking at a person in a sexually provocative manner. o Sending of sexually suggestive letters, emails etc. (Eugene and David, 2002)
Signs of Workplace Harassment Workers and individuals who are victims of harassment are usually reluctant to report any cases of harassment to the relevant persons concerned because they fear payback from their ‘attackers’. But a good employer who cares for all his employees and the progress of his business should check out through the following ways (Brown 1998); o Personal observations and critical assessment of individual behavior especially in a school situation and companies with small numbers of employees. o Interviewing those workers who are leaving the company either because of retirement or to pursue other career prospects. o Conducting work opinion surveys. o Checking the trends in workplace harassment grievances and compensation claims through the analysis of statistics available in the human resource office. o Breaking of relationships in teams, groups and managers themselves. o Poor commitments to job assignments. (Eugene and David, 2002) Factors That May Increase the Risk of Workplace Harassment
Organizational Changes Research has shown that significant changes within an organization can propel the level of workplace harassment in that organization. Changes such as the introduction of new supervisors, new technology or even new owners to the company may result in unprecedented increase in certain forms of harassment.
Workplace Culture Most companies and institutions such as schools which entertain and condone the use of abusive language and other teasing practices are likely to experience an increase in some form of harassment related to these practices.
Human Resource Management Systems Poorly drafted policies and failure to handle workplace harassment complaints and grievances in a fair manner catapults the same kinds of harassments that are supposed to be avoided
Workplace Relationship Trends Poor communication among workers and lack of between the junior employees and the management may cause an increase in certain forms of harassment such as sexual exploitation because the victims fear condemnation from their colleagues.
What the Law Says About Workplace Harassment Under the Workplace Health and Safety Act of 1995 developed by the United Nations Commission for Human Rights, all employees and employers regardless of their job status, nationality, color, origin, sex, religion and age are entitled to equal protection from any form of harassment. Employers are required to identify situations that may cause bodily, emotional or psychological injuries and rectify them. (U.N Act, 1995) It also outlines how individuals should relate to each other while at work. Although there are many definitions for workplace harassment, all the policies come to a conclusion that some individuals should account for their behaviors in one way or the other. Whether the specific behavior is intended to hurt anyone or not, it is the eventual effect that is considered. If it is taken negatively, then it is definitely an offense by law. There are many factors that the law considers before it declares a certain form of behavior illegal. If for example a group of workers in a construction company told of color jokes to each other and they didn’t feel hurt about it. But when a new worker was brought in and the same jokes continued, he felt harassed. This means that everybody takes comments in his or her view depending on the relationships of the people involved. However, principles of natural justice indicate that a person accused of harassment is innocent until proved innocent. Anybody accused of workplace harassment should be informed of the issue and given adequate time to defend himself. All cases of harassment must investigated and found to be true, necessary legal proceedings should be commenced even if it must involve the law enforcement officers. (Eugene and David, 2002)
Impacts of Workplace Harassment How It Affects an Individual Workplace harassment is associated with emotional distress, physical illnesses and body injuries. They occur to a victim of harassment who have frequently abused at his or her workplace (David 2002). First, it prevents effective production of the individual in terms of his or her output resulting in subsequent loss of employment. Secondly, one develops poor concentration due to distress, anxiety and chronic stress resulting in severe mental illness. It also leads to the loss of positive work values such as self-esteem, self- confidence and integrity which in the short term may lead to social discrimination and isolation at the place of work. Finally, an individual may develop social phobia i.e. an individual become.
How It Affects Business Workplace harassment can lead to severe financial and human costs in an organization in terms of; o Reduction in production, efficiency and profitability levels hence business collapse o Public and customer related effects such as bad publicity whereby people start to brand the organization bad names and ‘a difficult place to with’ o Increased legal, compensation, counseling, mediation and training costs for the organization resulting in bankruptcy in the long run o Worker health deterioration and poor commitment to work o Breakdown of individual, team or personal relationships within the organization Solutions to Workplace Harassment
1. Development of a workplace harassment prevention policy It is important that a workplace harassment prevention policy is put in place and quickly implemented by employers to guide every worker in the organization on the expectations of the employer regarding his or her conduct and other appropriate behavior expectations.
This policy can be part of the Workplace Health and Safety Act of 1995 developed by the United Nations or it can be a solo-policy as long as it conforms with other Human Rights policies. The policy should be written in such a way that all the workers can read and understand very well and ensured that everybody accesses it easily. It should also contain such elements as; the value statement which describes the organizations commitment to eliminate the vice completely, provide a clear definition of workplace harassment and the impacts of the same by singling out examples of deviant behavior in the policy. Proper obligations of every worker should be clearly spelt out starting with the manger on top to the watchman at the gate so that each individual understands his or her role in the organization and desist from interfering with other people. It must also encourage employees to report all forms of workplace harassment and make a commitment to fairly investigate the allegations. The policy should finally provide agreed penalty for defaulters. (U.N Act, 1995)
2. Implementing an effective complaint and grievance handling system Proper handling of formal and informal complaints on workplace harassment is an important factor in preventing the hazard. Solving a problem informally usually is less expensive and requires little resources because it involves open discussions between the parties in the dispute. In a formal case, a simple procedure should be developed to settle cases of workplace harassment. An efficient process is to report the issue to a specified officer, commence the investigation, attempt a resolve the conflict and finally allow for appeal.
3. Personal handling of workplace harassment Whether one is experiencing workplace harassment for the first time or you’ve been harassed for a long time it is possible to deal with it yourself and come up with a solution. The following are guidelines to be followed when doing this. First is to follow and trust your instincts-nobody becomes uncomfortable without a reason. It is therefore advisable to inform somebody who is close to you about the feelings, don’t ignore them.
Secondly, it is important to seek external support from either your family or close work mates. It is also advisable to study the assistance options available to you and weigh the success probability of each. This can be achieved through extensive consultations and research work. Thirdly, a victim should take care of himself because workplace harassment have serious physical and emotional consequences whish not only affect his or her job but will also interfere with his or her personal life, family life, relationships and more importantly the health of the individual. Finally, one can either deal with the harasser personally or through the workplace so that a legal complaint is launched. (Eugene and David, 2002)