Sexual harassment must be considered a serious offense. Whether it is a flirting activity or a touch on the should, if inappropriate, should be considered as harassment. Sexual harassment, along with other harassment, should not be allowed in any workplace. No matter what type of harassment is there, it must not be found in the office. An employer subject to federal anti-discrimination laws is bound to keep its workplace free from insult, intimidation, mockery based on gender, religion, color, race, or national origin. An employer must also be concerned with stopping harassment as it could lead to getting sued in state courts depending on the state’s laws. Many companies ruined their image by neglecting the sexual harassment cases going on in their company.
Any employer must keep such things under check if there is any sexual or other harassment present in the workplace. It affects the tendency of employees to work and might put an employer under legal manners.
What is The Definition of Harassment?
Harassment can be physical or verbal behavior that shows negativity or rudeness towards a person due to his skin color, religion, age, race, birthplace, disability, or for any other reason and that:
- It has to do with the creation of an unfriendly, offensive, daunting working atmosphere.
- It has to do with the creation and unpleasant behavior of the office worker.
- Puts a negative effect on the employment opportunities of a person.
- Harassment can be a negative behavior towards an individual’s privacy.
What Involves in the Definition of Sexual Harassment?
Unwanted sexual advances, demand sexual favors, and different kinds of physical or verbal issues of sexual nature give rise to sexual harassment when any one or more of the issues stands true:
- An individual feels dominated by the burden that if such demands aren’t fulfilled, it would be hard to keep up with the job or get the job.
- An individual thinks that such conduct is the cause of promotions, demotions, increments, and necessary for the job.
- The approach affects an individual’s work performance or builds an offensive, hard to resist environment for an individual.
- Few important points to keep in mind about sexual harassment include:
- Both male and female can be a victim of such conduct.
- A male or a female can be the harasser. In some cases, the conduct can be from the same sex.
- The conduct is not necessarily taking place with the complainer; it might be directed to another individual.
- Such conduct can take place at workplaces, events sponsored by a company, or even between colleagues away from the working environment.
- The conduct can take place anywhere from the working place, and it has multiple situations to occur.
- The harassment being conducted is of many different types.
Common conditions that might include sexual harassment are:
- Pinups in the office: Pinups might be passed personally having sexual material, which is liable for creating an unpleasant surrounding for working. Don’t let such things take place.
- Asking a colleague for a date: These are not considered harassment. If the offer is refused by an individual, it can become one when continuous pressure is forced on the person to go on a date even after a complaint is made.
- Treating women rudely: A supervisor treating women unjustly or rudely and always puts women down and criticizes their ability to work can be guilty of offending women sexually as hostile actions are being taken based on the gender of the employee.
- Abusing verbally or through jokes: Passing statements about the appearance of an individual or jokes being passed down of a sexual nature can build harassment, especially when such actions are not being appreciated by the individual.
What is gender-based harassment?
Harassment against women is a common practice in companies. Such an unethical act is mainly based on gender s gender-harassment. It is the job of an employer to make sure such actions are not being conducted in the workplace. Gender-based harassment is the one that is conducted on the sex of the individual has no such sexual motives. Such type of harassment lacks the explicit sexual content by is usually raised on the gender of the person it could be conducted on a male or a female.
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