Harassment
Harassment is considered a violation if the unwelcome conduct is based on race, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, age, or disability. There may be other areas that might also constitute harassment in the workplace. The best place to locate any and all information regarding harassment in the workplace is the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Examples of harassment might include verbal, physical, visual, psychological, and abuse-of-power situations. Offensive jokes in the workplace, unwanted touching, racial or ethnic slurs, pressure for dating or sexual favors, degrading comments, and the use of intimidation all constitute harassment in the workplace.
Harassment may take the form of emails, texting, sending unwanted pictures, offensive jokes, and more. There are many other areas that could be considered harassment, especially when affecting protected classes, according to the EEOC. Anti-discrimination laws help protect any employee who reports harassment in the workplace. Most employers will list an area in their employee handbook that discusses how to report harassment.
Bullying
Bullying is a behavior that is ongoing, intimidating, and may border on harassment. Bullying often involves someone in a position of power misusing that power and authority. This type of behavior is detrimental to an employee’s mental, emotional, and at times physical well-being.
Examples of bullying might include:
- Unwarranted criticism
- Blame
- Exclusion
- Isolation from teams
- Ignoring and micromanaging in critical ways
- Backstabbing
- Manipulative behaviors
- Using fear to get results
Bullying also takes place in the digital world. Emails, texts, and social media threats all constitute bullying.
Bullying often can go unnoticed in the workplace. It can be a slow and subtle process. For example, if an employee were to question an unethical behavior of a manager, the manager may try to shut the employee down, overtly, or ignore the topic altogether.
When an employee continues to speak up for the right thing, maybe advocating for themselves or someone else, the manager may then become aggressive. This type of aggression may include yelling in the face of the employee, making demands of the employee, shouting, pacing around, and even possible physical shoving of the employee or threats of termination. While this may not be on-going, day by day, this behavior is still unacceptable in a safe working environment. Many companies have a code of conduct to follow, and this type of behavior is a violation of proper conduct in the workplace.
Toxicity
A toxic work environment is one that diminishes, negatively affects, and erodes an employee’s sense of well-being. Employee engagement in the workplace will be very low when a toxic work environment greets them each day. In the absence of toxicity, an employee who is engaged in their daily work, and feels appreciated, is more likely to stay motivated and believe that they are a valued team member.
Examples of a toxic workplace include:
- Poor communication
- Ineffective leadership
- High employee turnover
- Unmotivated employees
- Employee gossip
- Not much room for advancement or promotion
This type of environment breeds mistrust and dysfunction. A toxic work environment may well include bullying and various forms of harassment.
Why Do I Feel This Way?
Harassment, bullying, and/or a toxic work environment will have a negative impact on you. We spend a large portion of our lives working, so we should feel safe in our work environment. If you are being harassed or bullied, you may feel anxious or depressed about the situation. You may notice apprehension about being at work, and a sense of dread. There may be increased absenteeism, low morale, sleep issues, and even physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach issues, and more. It is very important for you to remember that you have a voice. You are not alone, and you can advocate for yourself!
You have the right and the responsibility to tell your employer if you are being bullied or harassed. If you feel comfortable, talk to the individual who is engaging in harassing or bullying you at work. Tell them to stop, and tell them how it makes you feel. It might be a good idea to have someone else present when you talk to that person, if that helps you feel comfortable. If the harasser or bully is a manager, you could talk to their supervisor or go straight to your Human Resources department.
One way to advocate for yourself is to document, document, and document! Make sure you save harassing emails, document encounters or words said to you, and document physical touching or verbal abuse. Remember to document dates and times, where it took place, and if others were present or not. Many bullies in the workplace will not harass or bully if others are around, so documenting will become your best ally. Look at your employee handbook and follow policy and protocol in all you do.
It is important to take care of yourself when away from work. Make time for yourself to de-stress and relax. Talk the situation over with trusted family or friends. Many times, talking with a counselor about workplace issues can help a person process and make sense of how to proceed. Know that you can get through this! You have a voice, and even when it’s scary, you can advocate for what is right and for what you deserve.
What Can Be Done?
Organizational Support: Vision, expectations, and accountability are the keys to success for an organization and the employees. An employer that promotes and creates a safe working environment, from the top down, will have employees who are engaged and feel validated. Effective communication, good policies and procedures that are followed, and creating employee teams that are built on trust, will maintain a positive and safe working environment. Leaders and managers who take responsibility and hold themselves accountable set an example for others to follow.
Employee Support: When employees know and understand their workplace rights, they can more easily advocate for themselves and for others. An employee should know their worth, be professional, and gain self confidence in who they are and how they contribute to the goals of the organization. Employees can strive to set professional boundaries, speak up for positive changes, and eliminate bullying and harassing workplace behavior.
Report or Complaint: Another type of support, or intervention, for continued harassment or bullying in the workplace is to file a report or a complaint. While this might be a difficult path to follow, many employees may feel they have no choice. Many organizations have reporting procedures to follow regarding harassment and bullying. Filing a complaint with Human Resources is one place to start. If the complaint can not be resolved, an individual could file a grievance.
Seek Legal Advice: Reaching out to an attorney may be considered a last resort when dealing with workplace harassment and bullying. There are many employee rights law firms who offer free consultations for advice. If an individual would retain an attorney after the consultation, then retainer fees are discussed. Legal options may be needed if other avenues fail.
Scholarly Sources
Abbas, Y., & Khan, M.N. (2021). Spillover impact of workplace bullying on work outcomes: The moderating role of job crafting. International Journal of Management Excellence, 17(2), 1-16.
Anjum, A., Yasmeen, K., Yasmeen, K. (2011). Bullying at work: A comprehensive definition and consequences based on empirical study. International Journal of Human Resources Studies, 1(1), 80-88.
Hersch, J. (2011). Compensating differentials for sexual harassment. American Economic Review, 101(3), 630-634.
Liang, H-L. (2021). Does workplace bullying produce employee voice and physical health issues? Testing and the mediating role of emotional exhaustion. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.610944
Rasol, S. F., Wang, M., Tang. M., Saeed, A., & Iqbal, J. (2021). How toxic workplace environment effects the employee engagement: The mediating role of organizational support and employee wellbeing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5) p. 2294-2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052294
Razzaghian, M., & Attaullah, S. (2011). Prevalence, antecedents, and effects of workplace bullying: A Review. African Journal of Business Management, 5(53) p. 13419-13427.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Home. https://www.eeoc.gov/
Vega, G. (2005). Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can break your spirit: Bullying in the workplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 58, 101-109. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-1422-7
