When most people hear the word harassment, they think of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is only one type of harassment, albeit a common type of harassment. In this article, we will discuss common types of harassment that may occur in the workplace.
Personal Harassment
Personal harassment is basically bullying. It is someone who is annoying you, making jokes that you find offensive (but not based on discrimination), trying to intimidate you, or ostracize you. Personal harassment, while harmful and detrimental to your job performance, is not illegal. That being said, you should document the personal harassment you receive and report it to your supervisor or HR as appropriate. Personal harassment can affect your job performance and have a detrimental effect on overall morale, so most employers take it seriously.
Physical Harassment
Physical harassment includes threats of physical harm and acts of physical harm. In many cases, physical harassment can lead to criminal charges for assault or battery. Examples of physical harassment include:
- Destruction of property with the intent of intimidation
- Threatening harm or threatening behavior
- Kicking
- Shoving
- Hitting or punching
Power Harassment
Power harassment is a little bit like personal harassment, except it is coming from someone who holds a position of power over the victim. Because of this power dynamic, power harassment can be extreme because the victim feels like they cannot address it or combat it without risking their job. Examples of power harassment include:
- Excessive demands (especially ones outside of the victim’s scope of employment)
- Verbal intimidation
- Demeaning comments
- Physical harassment
- Intruding on the victim’s personal life
Retaliatory Harassment
The law protects people from harassment if they engage in behavior that is protected by law. This means an employee cannot be harassed if they report illegal activity, make legal claims, or act as a witness in a legal claim. Any type of harassment that can be seen as taking revenge is called retaliatory harassment.
Verbal Harassment
Verbal harassment is not illegal unless the nature of the verbal harassment is discriminatory. However, verbal harassment can affect employee morale and disrupt the work environment as well as affect the wellbeing of the victim. Examples of verbal harassment are:
- Threats
- Insults
- Yelling
- Cursing
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is, unfortunately, one of the most common types of harassment that occurs in the workplace. It is any type of unwanted behavior of a sexual nature, including unwanted advances and inappropriate jokes or questions. People of all genders and sexual orientation may be victims of sexual harassment.
A common type of sexual harassment is quid-pro-quo sexual harassment which suggests the exchange of something for a “benefit.” It may be asking someone not to report sexual harassment in exchange for a promotion, or it could be a date or sexual activity in exchange for not being fired. It does not matter if the quid-pro-quo nature is implied or obvious; it is still sexual harassment.
Other examples of sexual harassment are:
- Sexual pictures or posters in the workplace
- Sexual jokes
- Asking invasive sexual questions
- Commenting on sexual things or private body parts
- Sharing sexual material like images, videos, or even written material
- Invading someone’s space in a sexual way
- Gestures or touching in a sexual way
Psychological Harassment
Psychological harassment can have serious implications for the victim’s mental health and general wellbeing. Examples of psychological harassment include belittling, isolation, and ignoring the victim.
Online Harassment
Online harassment can occur in the workplace too. It involves activities like sending gossip or harassing a victim through online mediums like work messaging software, email, or even text message. It also includes spreading harmful information online.
Third-Party Harassment
This type of harassment happens from people the employee comes into contact within the workplace who are not in the employ of the employer. It could be customers, clients, vendors, or suppliers. The employer has a duty of care to protect their employees from third-party harassment by taking preventative measures and stepping in when they notice harassment or their employee complains of the harassment. Third-party harassment is common in customer service jobs where people like receptionists or cashiers may be verbally or physically harassed.
Discriminatory Harassment
Discriminatory harassment is harassing someone because they are a member of a protected class. It is illegal even if the harassment is not happening because of the protected class. For example, if a person forgot to file important papers and their other employee makes a derogatory comment about their race, this is still discriminatory harassment. If the same situation occurs and the other employee simply says the person was stupid or useless, while this behavior is still incredibly rude, it is not discriminatory harassment.
Discriminatory harassment includes many behaviors such as slurs, stereotypes, jokes, comments, insults, pressure to do things against protected believes or customs, lack of sensitivity to cultural or religious beliefs, patronizing, treating an employee differently because of their protected characteristic, or a refusal to make reasonable accommodations.
Protected characteristics in employment law include:
- Race
- Religion
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- National origin
- Age
- Disability
Discriminatory harassment should be taken seriously by everyone as it can result in serious lawsuits and damage a company’s reputation.