The modern workplace is such a sphere where people from different races, backgrounds, genders, and religions work together. While coexisting, the specter of harassment looms large, casting a tall and dark shadow on the professional sphere. It is essential to properly acknowledge the ever-increasing presence of harassment in the workplace, which transcends singular categories. Harassment continues to persist as a pervasive issue in its various forms, affecting individuals across various dimensions such as gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, and more. There are different types of harassment that you should know about.
What Is Harassment?
Harassment is known to be any unwanted action, behavior, or verbal communication that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment at the workplace. There is a fine line between constructive criticism and harassment in the workplace. Constructive criticism helps to boost one’s performance, while harassment undermines an employee’s dignity.
There are types of harassment. Harassment entails severe misconduct or repeated actions that cross professional boundaries to hurt one’s self-esteem, dignity, and respect.
What are the Different Types of Workplace Harassment?
There are different types of workplace harassment that you should be well aware of. Some of the most common types of harassment are described below.
Sexual Harassment
Women are the most common victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. Men also face this harassment, but the number is significantly low. Sexual harassment is one of the most common types of harassment, which includes sexual comments, advances, or physical contact. It makes the workplace an unsafe and uncomfortable place for the victim to work at. There are two types of sexual harassment.
Filing A Charge of Discrimination
Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment
In quid pro quo harassment, an individual in a superior position demands sexual favors from a subordinate employee in exchange for a benefit, such as a promotion or pay increase. They also may threaten consequences, such as demotion, termination, or withholding a promotion, in case the subordinate does not comply. Know more about types of harassment.
Hostile Work Environment
Such an environment at the workplace entails victimization, discriminatory harassment, violence, or offensive conduct as defined by the EEOC. This unwanted behavior is usually persistent, severe, and disruptive to the complainant’s work. It is mainly based on color, race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, national origin, and more.
Discriminatory Harassment
This harassment entails unfair treatment based on a person’s nationality, disability, sexual orientation, religion, race, gender, and age. This is among the most common types of harassment at work. It could be verbal, physical, or written. Such discrimination in the workplace is illegal and should never be tolerated, but sadly still happens to the victims. There are different types of harassment, such as racial harassment, disability harassment, etc. Some of these types of harassment are mentioned below.
Disability Harassment
It is one of the most widespread types of harassment in the workplace. Disability harassment indicates unfavorable treatment or harassment of individuals with a mental or physical disability. This type of illegal harassment can also include people with life-threatening diseases such as cancer and ongoing diseases like lupus and MS.
For example, a manager may pass up an employee in a wheelchair for a job that requires driving long distances based on the incorrect assumption that they can’t handle the task at hand.
Racial Harassment
Racial harassment is mostly seen in such an office landscape where employees from different racial backgrounds and colors are together. Labeling harassment as racial could be quite complicated. For example, it could include:
- Mocking the accent of a person
- Telling derogatory jokes
- Displaying racist symbols on or offline
- Using racial slurs
- Making unwelcome comments about a person’s race
Sexual Orientation Harassment
This type of harassment includes offensive, derogatory, or demeaning remarks based on a person’s sexual orientation, regardless of sexual orientation – whether lesbian, gay, heterosexual, bisexual, queer, pansexual, polysexual, or asexual – harassment based on this is also considered illegal In the United States.
Gender Identity Harassment
This also comes under the most common types of harassment. It occurs if someone is discriminated against due to their gender identity. According to 2023 Workplace Harassment and Employee Misconduct Insights, 22% of employees have witnessed or experienced gender-based harassment at work. Further, transgender employees were more likely to experience harassment, with 83% having experienced or witnessed gender-identity harassment at work.
Ageism
This is also among the common types of harassment. It is illegal. to discriminate against someone based on their age at work. Ageism in the workplace is a form of discrimination and bias towards someone based on their age. This can occur to both younger and older employees.
Religious Harassment
As the name suggests, these types of harassment are hurled at the victims due to their religious beliefs. If an office employee practices a different religion than most of the other employees, then they might be targeted by religious harassment.
Personal Harassment
These types of harassment target a victim based on their personality, looks, or work. The behavior may occur both inside and outside of the workplace, such as at a work event. Like other types of harassment, this behavior is unacceptable. However, personal harassment is typically not illegal unless the behavior is based on a personal, protected characteristic.
Physical Harassment
There are varying degrees of physical harassment, but each one of them is detrimental regardless of severity. Even if it does not cause any severe harm, any form of physical harassment is still harassment and could even be considered assault in specific circumstances.
Verbal Harassment
In these types of harassment, someone talks to the victim disrespectfully or rudely in a repeated manner. This might consist of body-shaming unwanted jokes. Unreasonable criticism, slurs, insults, demeaning jokes etc.
Psychological Harassment
This might be the hardest type of harassment to identify. This harassment affects victims mentally, not physically. Mental workplace harassment consists of repeated hostile and unwanted words, actions, or behaviors that are painful, hurtful, annoying, humiliating, or insulting.
Cyber Bullying (Online Harassment)
Online harassment or cyberbullying consists of an action such as posting threats or demeaning comments on a social platform, bullying the victim, often via a fake persona, and making false allegations online. This can even include an offensive statement via email or work messaging platforms.
Retaliation
These are other types of harassment in the workplace, which mainly occur if the harasser wants to get revenge for something. This can take the form of discriminatory, physical, or verbal harassment.
Third-Party Harassment
As the name suggests, these types of harassment entail someone from outside of the business, such as a supplier, client, contractor, vendor, or customer. This type of behavior can consist of any type of harassment, including discrimination, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, etc. Organizations must prioritize employee safety and take action to address and resolve third-party harassment claims.
Ways to Deal with Different Types of Harassment and Bullying at Work
It is important to know how to handle different types of harassment at work in a proactive manner. Here are the ways:
Document the Incidents
You should video or audio record the harassment incident, including its locations, times, and dates. It can be used as documented evidence legally.
Protest
You have to protest and take a stand against different types of harassment. It is essential to let the harassing person know that their behavior is unacceptable.
Understand Policies at the Workplace
Understand all the policies on different types of harassment and bullying in the workplace to deal with them better.
Report to HR or Management
The first thing you should do after being harassed is report the incident to HR or Management officially. Show them the documented evidence to make your strong case.
Get Legal Assistance
It is essential for you to find legal assistance if the issue persists. Consulting a professional lawyer would be helpful if things get serious.
Have a Support System
If you have colleagues with whom you have good relations, then they can act as your support system, offering you practical advice and emotional relief.
Time Limits To File a Charge
180 days to file a charge (may be extended by state laws)
Conclusion
With different types of harassment in the workplace, you are required to have knowledge of them. This is how you would be able to stay prepared for the worst. In case you face any type of harassment, then you are supposed to take the necessary steps to resolve the matter at the earliest. Informing the HR is the first step.
You should be well-versed in the types of harassment and the policies against harassment and bullying in the workplace. It enables you to seek the right solutions while being harassed. Doing research on your own is also vital.
FAQs
Is Workplace Harassment Common These Days?
Ans: Yes, harassment in the workplace has become quite a common occurrence these days.
What Is Harassment and What Is Not?
Ans: Harassment is any kind of unwelcome conduct or behavior that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. But if the conduct or behavior does not create any problem for anyone, then it is harassment at work.
How to Stop Bullying in the Workplace?
Ans: Reporting the incident to HR or Management is the first thing one should do. If the bullying still persists, then seeking legal assistance is recommended.
What Is considered Harassment?
Ans: Any kind of misconduct, behavior, or words hurled creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment at the workplace is harassment.
What are Some Workplace Harassment Examples?
Ans: Spreading harmful rumors about someone, persistent ridicule, racial slurs, or unwelcome sexual advances come under workplace harassment or workplace pro.
