Watch Out for Workplace Harassment

Workplace harassment is something all small- and mid-sized companies should take seriously. It’s not only against ethical and human rights standards of our times but also a cause for high-cost litigation that can ruin a company’s reputation and empty its coffers.

But gone are the days when “harassment” only meant “sexual harassment.” That is still one of the most wide-spread forms but is not limited to it.

There are for example religion, ethnicity, national origin, and age-based forms of harassment too.

Here are some examples:

• Cracking a joke about the forehead marks with which some developers show up in office on Ash Wednesday.

• Making a sarcastic remark around the water cooler about the “curry eaters” and “onions heads” at the accounting department.

• Showing mock compassion for the “grandpa” at the shipping department who once complained about the weight of the outgoing packages.

The definition of the “sexual harassment” has been expanded as well.

Now it’s no longer necessary to have a physical or overt pass at another colleague to commit sexual harassment.

A risque screen-saver on one’s personal computer, for example, or a worker insisting that his friends look at his beach photos showing naked swimmers, would be enough to generate a serious harassment complaint.

There are other harassment modes like

• denying assistance and withholding crucial information and thus steering another colleague towards failure;
• constantly ridiculing someone;
• sending embarrassing or threatening messages through email or telephone;
• constantly criticizing petty matters and insignificant points;
• regular threats of dismissal or demotion without any apparent reason;
• etc.

It would be well advised to put all your new hires through a standard harassment training and issue them a certification when they successfully pass the test at the end. Most companies do that both to make their harassment policies crystal clear to all concerned and also to protect themselves against future law suits.

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