A large majority of employees have reported feeling harassed at the workplace. Harassment doesn’t just have to be sexual in nature, since it has various types. It is harmful to both employee and employers and can affect the growth of the firm if not stopped dead in its tracks. Unfortunately, due to the nature of harassment, most of the time only the upper management and senior HR personnel have the ability and authority to deal with bullies.
The office hierarchy always plays an ugly role in the proliferation of harassment and bullying at the workplace. Most employees who are going through harassment do not speak up for their rights because they fear it might just backfire for them. This is also dangerous in the long run because the perpetrator of the crime will only up the ante from then on, knowing that their unethical behavior is going unpunished.
There are many types of harassment which can affect the workplace. These include sexual harassment and discriminatory harassment. Pointing out that someone is fat, ugly, or picking on someone because of their differences as compared to the majority of the people at the office, is also considered a form of harassment.
A hostile environment is not conducive to productivity and is toxic to the mental health of workers. When the higher ups turn a blind eye to harassment at the office, they’re potentially inviting a disaster at the workplace. There will come a point in time when an employee will feel compelled to file a harassment claim. When this happens, the image of both the employer and the company comes into the spotlight and people begin to scrutinize your organization more.
Some of the biggest organizations in the United States have been facing a torrent of harassment cases. These include the founder of Uber, Travis Kalanick; which eventually resulted in him getting displaced from the position of CEO. Kevin Spacey, a well-known American actor who was accused of sexual misconduct against his staff, has his career in tatters.
If big names and big organizations are unable to cope with the ensuring wrath of negative publicity because of harassment cases, think of what could happen to smaller businesses that are still in their initial phases of growth. As a small business you simply cannot allow harassment to run unchecked at the workplace.
A 2017 poll by MSN found that over 31% of people in the US have been sexually harassed at the workplace. 45% of women reported being sexually harassed. Another 15% of men claimed that they were also sexually harassed.
When harassment cases become heated enough to be taken to court, the settlements can vary from $100,000 to $20 million in compensation. Not to mention receiving public backlash and the fear of employees turning away from ever applying to the job in the first place.
Harassment is quite a sensitive topic and can quickly spiral out of control if you don’t know what you’re doing. It is important to get in touch with experts from JS Benefits Group to help you tackle the problem amicably and professionally. Get in touch with our consultants to sort out the ugly matters of your office.
