Preventing Harassment Including Sexual Harassment
What is Sexual Harassment in the workplace?
When an employee is subject to unwelcome advances, comments or conduct when submission to such conduct is made an implicit or explicit term or condition of employment decisions, or when such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance, or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.
Examples of Sexual Harassment
A supervisor tells an employee that in order to stay employed or earn a promotion, the employee must give in to the supervisor’s sexual demands.
An employee repeatedly comments on a co-worker’s appearance and makes requests for dates, although it was made clear that the comments were unwelcome and there is no interest in dating.
A client who regularly visits the employer’s place of business tells sexually explicit jokes, flirts with staff, makes sexist comments and uses demeaning terms when referring to one particular gender.
There are the two types of Sexual Harassment
“Quid pro Quo” (Latin meaning “this for that”) is defined as unwelcome sexual conduct where submission is implicitly or explicitly made a term or condition of employment or is used as a basis for employment decisions.
A “Hostile Work Environment” results from severe or pervasive harassment; a reasonable person would not be able to work in this environment due to the harassment.