Sexual harassment is an awful scourge that has affected American society for far too long. Fortunately, nearly all large companies have adopted zero-tolerance sexual harassment policies. Nevertheless, with all the attention on sexual harassment, other forms of harassment often go unchecked, and these forms of harassment can be just as harmful.
A small team of academic researchers has been studying what they call “uncivil experiences” endured by over 2,400 employees, executives and managers located in Canada and the United States. After eight years of research, the team determined that numerous employees are experiencing forms of harassment that largely remain undetected, but are just as damaging to workplace turnover and workplace productivity. The researchers feel that corporations should try to eradicate these “uncivil experiences” from the daily lives of their employees.
Here are characteristic examples of workplace incivility:
- Bosses being unkind to subordinates and reprimanding them in too strong a fashion.
- Fellow workers purposefully not helping their coworkers who are in crisis situations.
- Spreading rumors about other colleagues.
- Any retaliatory behavior meant to harm another employee.
- Often it’s covert and under the radar.
- Sometimes it’s visible so that the employee gets publicly embarrassed.
Putting up with this kind of abuse may cause workers enormous stress and enormous losses in workplace productivity. In many cases, workers have no recourse. In order to put a stop to hidden harassment, they’re forced to quit their jobs. Managers and company executives are therefore encouraged to create zero tolerance policies for incivility in the workplace and to diligently watch out for signs of such behavior among their employees.
Are you being subjected to incivility at your workplace? By speaking with an employment law attorney who assists victims of workplace discrimination and harassment, you can learn about your legal rights and options.
Source: Havard Business Review, “Hidden harassment,” accessed Aug. 25, 2017
