The main effect of any workplace harassment is that it takes a toll on the primary relationship between the employer and his employee. Moreover, it affects the mental and physical well-being of an employee. It, in turn, has a considerable negative impact on the efficiency and productivity of the victimized employee.

A healthy and safe work environment is the fundamental right of any employee. So, to ensure that none of you are deprived of your rights, the government of the country has made federal rules to protect employees in any work environment. Also, in case of any kind of harassment that you face at your workplace, Wagoner Law Firm is there to assist you.

Now, what can you term as ‘harassment’? It is effortless, and most compactly, you can say that any words or actions that can annoy someone beyond a specific limit can be termed as ‘harassment.’ Besides, such activities can give way to hostility in the workplace. Harassment from anybody, such as a manager, customer, or a co-worker should be immediately reported against.

Further, it will depend on the intensity of the incident, and the truthfulness of your report, that legal action will be taken against the accused. However, before that, you must know how to segregate instances of workplace harassment.

Common types of workplace harassment

The following are some of the most common types of workplace harassment that must be reported immediately.

1. Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment has been the main reason for several lawsuits against workplace harassment for years now. What you must know is that an instance of sexual harassment can be both subtle and blatant. Under the 1964 Act of Civil Rights, anything minor or major that suggests advances or favors of a sexual nature can be eligible for punishment. Besides, any posters, screen savers, photographs of sexual life also fall under the category of sexually offensive acts.

2. Racial discrimination

Suppose there is a scenario in which a handful number of people may have a different physical appearance in comparison to the majority. It is precisely when there are high chances that the minority group will experience a discriminatory behavior on the grounds of their race. It is the responsibility of the authority to make sure no comments or jokes are passed based on racial discrimination. Moreover, such activities may cause severe hostility in the workplace.

3. Age harassment

According to the Act of Human Relations in Pennsylvania, an employee is punishable if he targets an older worker based on his or her age in the same organization. Cracking jokes or purposely asking when a person will retire is also treated as offensive under this kind of harassment.

4. Gender harassment

Problems such as gender biases fall firmly under acts of harassment. For example, if two people are equally qualified and capable of handling a certain kind of job, no one should discriminate them as less than the other only due to their gender. Any blatant or subtle jokes in this regard can also be reported against under a case of harassment.