A study found that more than 75% of employees suffer harassment in the workplace. But do you know how to determine if you are going through the same thing? Being able to identify this type of behavior will be vital to being able to prevent it. However, as it is not always easy to identify them, we want to tell you how you could do it in this week’s blog.
According to the CDC, harassment must include the following:
- Unwanted aggressive behaviors
- That you observe or perceive an imbalance of power
- That the bullying behavior is repeated or that there is a possibility that it will happen again.
Unfortunately, no laws punish bullying in the workplace; legal action will only be taken if it becomes harassment. Therefore, the best way to identify bullying is first to understand if it makes you feel uncomfortable. If you answered yes, according to a study, 19% of employees witness harassment actions, so you could have a witness and someone to ask their perception of the problem. These are some types of harassment to help you understand if you are going through the same thing.
- Being pressured to give sexual favors
- Offensive jokes
- Unwanted comments
- Threats
- Abuse
- Unwanted sexual proposals
- A derogatory nickname
- Unwanted physical contact
- Sharing of derogatory/unwanted photos.
These types of behaviors are extremely serious and can affect an employee in different ways. A study was carried out in which employees said that suffering from harassment behaviors like the ones mentioned above wholly changed their perception of the company’s culture, the opportunities that exist within it, and the intentions of their colleagues. This makes employees feel unsafe in their workplace; it also causes them not to feel part of their team and lowers their productivity. Unfortunately, the emotions caused by these types of situations mean that bullying is not always reported.
Remember that you are not alone and that reporting abuse will help you feel more secure.
