35% of employees feel that they’ve experienced harassment. This figure is even higher for women as 41% say that they were victims.
Often, this workplace harassment is verbal. Certain comments and remarks that staff make to each other can be offensive, inappropriate, and insulting.
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The problem is that some people think this behavior is acceptable or they don’t realize it qualifies as harassment.
Verbal harassment is often defined as “language directed at another person that causes that person harm, typically in an emotional or psychological sense.”
Like I mentioned before, some people don’t realize that some language qualifies as harassment. This includes jokes. In fact, 32% of people are unaware that jokes can be sexual harassment.
Because not everyone knows that certain jokes are inappropriate for the workplace, they may end up defending themselves after an insulting remark. Perhaps you’ve heard someone at work say one of the following lines, or you’ve said them yourself...“It was just a joke!”, “You take things too seriously”, “I’m only kidding”.
Sure, sometimes these “jokes” don't have malicious intent, but rather were just a poor choice of words. But other times, jokes are an attempt to conceal mean-spirited comments or opinions. Some employees may have malicious intentions with their remarks but try to disguise it as a joke so it seems less harmful. But really, it still hurts the person they’re harassing.
Many words cause significant pain when directed at minorities. Because of their severity, I won’t spell them all out for you. But they’re so common that you probably know what they are. Common examples include:
Many words cause significant pain when directed at minorities. Because of their severity, we won’t spell them all out for you. But they’re so common that you probably know what they are.
These offensive slurs are another instance of illicit workplace language. Because of the emotional harm that they can cause to employees, it creates a hostile environment. Court systems can even deem discriminatory language illegal in the workplace.
Instead, I’m referring to sounds that someone makes intentionally. There are so many different instances of these, such as whistling when someone walks by or groaning when your least favorite coworker walks into the room.
Some noises may even qualify as sexual harassment. Even if the harasser doesn’t verbalize any remarks, these inappropriate sounds create an uncomfortable and intimidating environment for the victim.
It’s okay to ask your colleagues questions such as if they enjoyed the weekend. Engaging in these conversations helps create a friendly atmosphere.
But you shouldn’t ask questions that pry into their life. There are some taboo topics that people consider to always be off-limits in the workplace. Some of these include topics about finances, politics, religion, drug or alcohol use, weight, pregnancy or family planning, or disabilities.
Of course, some of these have a fine line between what is and isn’t appropriate. For instance, if you have concerns that someone is struggling with substance abuse, you would want them to get help. But there are ways to address concerns without putting someone on the spot in the middle of the workday. The tone you use can also be a factor in showing that you care versus accidentally humiliating them.
Obviously, threats of physical harm are a severe form of verbal harassment and are illegal. Any threats of violence should get reported to legal authorities. But workplace threats typically occur differently.
For instance, managers may threaten to fire or demote an employee if they don’t meet certain goals or adhere to non-work-related requests. This would create negative pressure for employees and lead to an unhealthy workplace.
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20 фев 2022
