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Workplace Harassment
BUSI 342: Human Resource Management
Dr. Lori Johnson Vegas
December 13, 2021
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Workplace Harassment
One of the main causes of workplace harassment is that is affects both men and women
of different race, color, religion, ethnicity, and many more reasons that this happens every day in
the workforce. Workplace harassment can also lead to sexual harassment such as, “is unwelcome
verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe and affects working
conditions or creates a hostile working environment” (Jackson., et al., (2019) pg.2). Harassment
can be formed in many ways such as, a coworker being verbal, talking mean, making sexual
comments, or being physical about touching a coworker in a private place that they are not
supposed to do, and they can make teasing comments to make fun of the victim. “Sexual
harassment may occur when employees e-mail each other; when they visit social networking
sites, and they access the Internet” (Jackson., et al., (2019) pg.2). Companies should always
prevent sexual harassment from happening inside their workforce such as all always practicing
the right measurements if this happens, and it gives managers and employees the right policies to
make sure they know the right procedures and make sure to always show evidence and always
tell someone if it is happening to them or a co-worker.
In today’s workplace there are a lot of ways people can be harassed especially by upper
management such as “Four female bank tellers complain to management their female service
manager and another female bank teller are sexually harassing them” (Becton, et., al. (2017) pg.
1). This example shows it can even be your own same sex race that is making sexual gestures
towards an employee that shows this manager true personality and actions are not fit for that
company therefore the company should act immediately to protect their employees. Sometimes
employers do not understand the right places to go if something like this happens or they are too
afraid to speak up to someone because they are embarrassed of the situation, they can go to
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managers but, sometimes no reports are made, or nobody investigates the outcome of the
situation therefore when no action is taken place it can lead to people quitting the company
which can lead to looking bad for the company. It is a responsibility that these managers know
the policies of workplace harassment and make sure they know what to do if any employee is
being harassed and be able to get them the help they need therefore when they come to work,
they will be able to feel safe and not so worried. All new employees starting a new job should be
taught that “For all employers should provide periodic training that explains the type of conduct
in violation of the policy, the importance of the policy, and the seriousness of policy violations”
(Becton, et., al. (2017) pg. 1).
Sexual harassment can include several chains of events, not just one incident. Most look
over a comment here and there. In Genesis 19:11 (NKJV) says, “And they struck the men who
were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so they became weary
trying to find the door.” This is God saying that the damage is done now and since the violation
has been done it is the responsibility of the company to take care of this. The affects of this abuse
is long term psychological damage.
Studies have shown that sexual harassment can also lead to victims’ mental health
declining an and it can also lead to depression such as “Research reports that workplace sexual
harassment has negative consequences such as decreased job satisfaction, long-term sickness
absence and mental health problems such as depression and anxiety” (Friborg, et., al. (2017)
p.2). In the workforce you can also be sexual harassed by customers if you deal with the public
all the time and dealing with clients can be a struggle especially if they are elderly people
sometimes because they can have dementia and not understand what is going on when they
sexual harass or say impropriate comments to a worker. When you are taking care of a client you
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must make sure that their needs are satisfied, but you have to set boundaries for yourself if
anything bad happens and if you cannot get yourself out of the position of job it can also lead to
the depression creeping in and starts bringing in an affect towards the victims mental health and
their work can become declining and they can lose focus and start to feel super uncomfortable
especially around the person that is sexual harassing them and it can also lead to people thinking
about changing their career wise. Victim’s personal life can also take a big effect also such as if
they have a family to take care of. “First, researchers found that hospitality employees’ family
unpleasant experiences in the workplace spilled over into their family lives” (Zhu, et. al., (2019)
pg.1)
Boundaries are important not only in personal life but also the work environment. The
boundaries should be made clear and not blurred. God helps us rebuild the boundaries that have
been crossed. John 16:33 (NKJV) says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may
have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world.” Even though something as troubling as this God helps the violated to move forward.
In the workplace their also can be gender problems especially working with men and
women because of that sometimes work can be unfair towards a specific gender such as men
usually become paid more or they have a better chance in receiving a job position such as “in
October, The Washington Post reported that a 2017 survey more than 70,000 employees showed
“in companies where just one 10 senior leaders is female, nearly 50 percent of men said women
were ‘well represented’ in the senior ranks, compared with only one-third or women who
somewhat remarkably- said the same” (Bloxham, E., (2018) pg. 5). Their can be an issue towards
this unfairness that can lead to harassment by any gender especially if men make rude comments
towards you because you are a female and do not deserve to work in the position, they are in.
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Not only female is sexual harassed they are also discriminated in work, school, sports,
and many other cases that are not legally fair, women are also denied a lot of rights especially in
other countries for example “further in several countries of the world, for example, Egypt, or
Afghanistan, women suffer from restricted physical integrity limiting their control over their
body and facilitating gender-based violence” (Bader et. al., (2018) p. 1). In these certain types of
countries women have more of a high risk being harassed and discriminated because it’s easier
for women with no educations or getting a way out of their current situation to be degraded by
higher up people. Women in sports can be disowned saying that are not good enough to play
football because it is a man’s job and not a female job or a guy can’t be in cheerleading because
he is a guy, there are a lot of typically stereotype ways that can be discriminated in today’s world.
After a sexual harassment has been made at your work either it’s yourself or a coworker
you should always try to report it to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this
would be the best place to go if you need to report sexual harassment if upper management isn’t
the best place to go to also. It is also important for a company to have an anti-harassment policy
such as “Paramount to an organization’s ability to prevent and correct harassment is an official
written policy that documents prohibited behaviors and communicates how the organization will
respond if prohibited behaviors are witnessed or reported to management” (Becton, et., al. (2017)
pg. 1).
When someone is sexually harassed and they report it they should also try to show proof
such as, recording voice memos, writing down times, dates, and events to help when the action
took place to help show proof if they report the action if this took place this will help the case be
more efficient and accurate to help the victim win the case better. There is also a complaint
process in this situation this give victims a chance to report the harassment by saying there is
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going to be no obstacles to file the victim complaint, and it makes sure that the victim steps
through an easy process while they do this to make sure that they are comfortable and secured.
Victims should also have a manager they can go to if the situation is currently happening
and should not be afraid to go speak up about it therefore a lot of corporations have HR in the
stores such as “someone with an unbiased relationship with the employees such as an HR
professional is well-suited as one of the possible persons to receive the complaints” (Becton, et.,
al. (2017) pg. 3). Human Resource managers have made sure that all the policies are done in a
correct way and that procedures are being followed especially when a harassment is being done.
You can look at the many examples in the paper and to whom is exposed to such
harassment. It is the responsibility of the HR department to make sure it is investigated through
the proper channels, for this type of crime can affect many people and their families, as well as
the companies themselves and how they handle these types of situations. Documentation of the
occurrences need to be taken in the form of statements by both parties, is just a few ways to start
the investigation process.
As you can see, there is a better understanding on what work harassment is and it is one
of most important topics that are happening in today’s world. Within today’s society, it is that
everyone is acceptable to be harassed because work harassment can happen to any employee of
different size, age, gender, and so much more, people get harassed through social media making
rude comments, spreading post of them, calling them names, and it could also lead to bullying in
the workplace such as teasing them or bringing the victim down in certain situations. It is just
not just about females anymore it is men and young people even in teenage years. It is a problem
that has been given more attention let’s say in the last ten years or so as more people speak out as
being victimized in this manner.
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God is very clear when it comes to carnal knowledge between two people. As God
commands us to be sexual with only husband and wife. Being violated in a carnal manner is an
emotional abusive, mental abusive and at times physical abusive long-lasting attack on our very
being. Proverbs 5:8 (NKJV) says, “And he is caught in the cords of his sin, He shall die for lack
of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.” Illicit attraction is not Godly
and is not the way of love and affection, it is taken very seriously in God’s eyes. There is a time
and place for such, and it is not within the work environment.
It is important as any human resource manager to keep the lines of communication open
to show that it should not be an uncomfortable for any employee to report such a crime.
Everyone deserves the right to feel respected and safe in their working environment to be a great
asset to companies all around. Should this arise the support needed should be given to anyone
who feels victimized in this situation. Boundaries should be identified and made known for
anyone in management or regular employees. No one should feel scared to report such an
invasion to oneself. Everyone in a work environment is responsible to making it a safe
environment to bring out the best in their employees.
References
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Bader, B., Stoermer, S., Bader, A. K., & Schuster, T. (2018). Institutional discrimination of
women and workplace harassment of female expatriates: Evidence from 25 host
countries. Journal of Global Mobility, 6(1), 40-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-06-2017-
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Becton, J. B., Gilstrap, J. B., & Forsyth, M. (2017). Preventing and correcting workplace
harassment: Guidelines for employers. (1), 101-111. Business Horizons, 60
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.09.005
Bloxham, E. (2018). workplace harassment: A complex issue.(workplace & employment). Phi
Kappa Phi Forum, 98(1), 21-21.
Clinton, Tim. (2001). The Care and Counsel Bible: Caring For People God’s Way. (NKJV).
American Association of Christian Counselors.
Friborg, M. K., Hansen, J. V., Aldrich, P. T., Folker, A. P., Kjær, S., Nielsen, M. B. D., Rugulies,
R., & Madsen, I. E. H. (2017). Workplace sexual harassment and depressive symptoms: A
cross-sectional multilevel analysis comparing harassment from clients or customers to
harassment from other employees amongst 7603 danish employees from 1041
organizations. BMC Public Health, 17(1), 675-675. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-
4669-x
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Mathis, R.L., Valentine, S.R., Meglich, P.A., & Jackson, J.H. (2019). Human resource
management (16th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Zhu, H., Lyu, Y., & Ye, Y. (2019). Workplace sexual harassment, workplace deviance, and family
undermining. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(2),
594-614. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2017-0776
