Workplace harassment is the harassment with one of the current or former employers of a company from a boss, from coworker group, vendor and from customers whose communication, actions and behaviour judge it. Harassment is also known as ‘Bullying’. It also includes offensive jokes, nickname, name-calling, pornographic pictures etc.
In case of workplace harassment, the employee can take an action through work policies. The employees must be aware of what they can do if they are harassed? Workplace harassment has different types such as:
• Written / Verbal Harassment
• Physical Harassment
• Visual Harassment
With these types of harassment, it becomes important to know how to deal with this. Here are some tips:
Note Down the Bully actions properly
Keep a detailed note of the name of the bully and his/her actions. Take the information as much as you can gather, like date, time, place and also the witness of that particular action. It will make you satisfied whether you are suffering from harassment or not. If you don’t they also help you to figure out your feelings toward a particular action. If you do have a gut feeling that it certainly is a case of harassment, you can take an immediate action.
Give the hint to bully to stop
If you confirmed that the other one bullying you, the first step you can take gives the warning to that bully to stop this. You can give them simple gestures such as the use of short forms, create a difference between you and bully. It will help harasser to understand that his/her actions are making you uncomfortable and might try to refrain trying it again on you.
Get witness and evidence
After the warning, if the harasser does not stop, you need to collect the evidence and witnesses. You have to consult with your colleagues-working at same hours-in a written way for future reference.
Keep Calm
If you have collected proper witness or evidence for the harassment, in a very professional way, just keep your calm. You have to be silent; it will be more articulate.
Discuss with your supervisor or HR representative
Present your case to your supervisor and bring all the pieces of evidence and documents you have accumulated to claim your case. That will represent the proof. Discuss with supervisor as calmly so that they will understand you in a good way. If the harasser is one of them, you can contact HR personnel or discuss with higher authorities who can help you out.
Follow up
After these courses, if the bully continues and the case still has not been sorted then you can take a legal action. Some of the companies have their own protocol for investigation. It can often take longer, so take proper confirmation.
Legal action
If you found that your company superiors are not helping you to warn the bully, according to labour law, you have right to fight for your rights and consult with the lawyer. You can show all the evidence you have against the harasser. There are many workplace harassment lawyers in San Diego and other places that can get you started positively on the matter. In fact, if your witness is supportive, you can take him/her with you while your visit to the lawyer, so they can see how powerful your case is in the context they will represent you.
You can tell your complaint to EEOC or state fair employment agency.
Be a role model
Being through this is not quite easy to maintain yourself in the workplace. You have to be strong and face people at your work as you were before. You should be the role model for others who cannot or fear fight for their rights. You need to be very careful about what you say and who is around when you say things. Also, keep it neutral when discussing.
It is very difficult to deal with such kind of workplace harassment and bullying. If someone is suffering from this harassment, your company will suffer from huge loss or decrease in the ranking, so make sure the company policies work properly and take immediate action if harassment is happening in your company.
