Why You Should Know About Workplace Verbal Harassment

Why should you know about workplace verbal harassment? Harassment is an unlawful practice in a workplace setting. Any harassment stands no chance. Thereby necessary measures should be put in place and provide workers with a working environment that is free from Intimidations. Typically workplace harassment has a wide range of effects which nay in turn undermine productivity and compromise other employees. It's common for a verbally harassed individual to develop panic, anxiety, and avoiding certain behavior, therefore, reducing their productivity. Harassment may also result in employees losing morale and experience, which in turn affects the decision-making process.

Workplace Verbal Harassment

Its discrimination upon other employees in a workplace using language that may cause harm to them. It may affect their psychological or emotional sense. Diminishing a person's self-worth or making them feel useless is a form of verbal workplace harassment. Verbal harassment is very offensive harassment but difficult to collect evidence of its existence. This article will help you identify the most common types of harassment in the workplace, and they might intersect.

• Discriminatory Harassment

As discussed earlier, all kinds of unlawful practices in a workplace are discriminatory. It's defined by its intention rather than how it's carried out. It can be described as racial harassment where some employees are discriminated against due to their skin color, origin, and citizenship, gender biasing where employees are discriminated against based on their gender or religious harassment.

• Personal Harassment

It's a kind of workplace harassment that is not in protected classes but can negatively damage harassed employees. Forms of personal harassment include offensive jokes, personal humiliation, or inappropriate comments.

• Power Harassment

Power harassment is also common in workplaces. It's usually characterized by the disparity between the harasser and harassed individuals. In most cases, the harasser is at a higher level of office hierarchy and exercises their power to employees in the low-level office hierarchy. Mostly, the harasser subjects the victims to intrusion into employees' lifestyles or excessive demands that are impossible to meet.

• Sexual Harassment

It's workplace harassment that is sexual. It's often characterized by unwanted sexual advances, conducts, or behaviors. Sexual harassment will create a hostile workplace. Technically, it will create discomfort among victims and negatively affect their lifestyles. Therefore, Conduct forms an unlawful act in a workplace and should be taken seriously to the court level. Sexual harassment includes sending sexual photos and videos or sexual comments and jokes.

• Retaliation Harassment

It's a kind of retaliation and is often overlooked in most workplaces. It is characterized by vengeance. It’s often seen when individuals in a workplace intend to get revenge and prevent the victim from behaving in such a way again. For instance, if employee x files a complaint about employee y, then employee y finds out the complaint and who made it then threatens employee x for revenge to deter him from filing further complaints.

Conclusion

You've got it. All forms of verbal workplace harassment and interpretation that even diligent HR professionals could miss the signs. Therefore, the workplace is not a place for any harassment. That's why it's critical to know about workplace verbal harassment to identify and prevent such harassment.

Sarah K, a professional writer who share interests in different creative niches. Her ideas and tips towards such niches have contributed to the online community.