Chapter 14- Ensuring a harassment free and respectful workplace Flashcards
Making biased employment decisions against a person because of their protected characteristic.
Illegal discrimination
A legal term describing a form of discrimination where a person is subjected to threatening intimidating embarrassing or other offensive and unwelcome behavior because a gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, or some other protected characteristic.
Harassment
Actions that insult or indicate hostility or aversion towards someone
Disrespectful behavior
Your organizations harassment policy, not employees’ ………, determines what behaviors are prohibited in the workplace.
Personal comfort
2 practical ways to recognize subtle sexual harassment when the recipient has not said “that is unwelcome”:
- Focus on the …….. of the behavior rather than on its intention.
- Trying to determine if the person experiencing the behavior, such as a hug or non-sexual comments about appearance, ……….. in the same behavior. If they don’t, then the behavior is usually unwelcome.
Impact
Initiates and participates
When responding appropriately to discrimination and harassment complaints, your role as a supervisor is to:
- Know your organizations harassment policy and complaint process
- Establish and maintain a harassment and discrimination free work environment
- Recognize behavior that is prohibited by your organizations harassment policy
- Respond appropriately to all discrimination and harassment complaints
As a supervisor, any conversation you have with your employees, even outside the workplace, that includes a discussion about a behavior that is prohibited by the harassment policy constitutes a …………
Potential complaint
As a supervisor, dealing with a complaint you have three responsibilities:
- notify HR
- HR must determine if the alleged behavior occurred
- If HR finds that the prohibited behavior has occurred, the employer has a legal responsibility to stop it and prevent retaliation against any of the involved employees
You are not responsible for investigating harassment complaints. You are responsible for ……………if an employee talks with you about an alleged harassment or discrimination situation.
Responding appropriately
As a supervisor when an employee brings a complaint or concern to you about possible discrimination or harassment, it’s your responsibility to be an ………..and to conduct an initial interview.
Objective fact finder
Steps to take that will help to conduct the interview about a complaint:
Step 1: Received the complaint
Step 2: Obtain details
Step 3: Respond appropriately to the complainant’s concerning questions
Step 4: Close the interview
The goal for an effective ……….is to clarify the organizations harassment policy, encourage open communication, and stop prohibited behavior.
Intervention
The following steps provide a guide for talking with employees about unacceptable or prohibited behavior:
1: Document your conversation
2: objectively identify the specific behavior that is prohibited
3: Identify the policy that prohibits that behavior
4: Respond to questions and concerns from the employee
5: Ask the employee to stop the prohibited behavior
6: Ask for and receive the employees commitment to stop the specific behavior now and any similar behavior in the future
7: Contact the HR department to report your conversation and outcome
8: Monitor your workplace to ensure that the behavior has stopped
- Avoiding the complaint in the workplace
- Drawing unnecessary attention to the complainant or a the situation involving the complaint
- Spreading rumors about the complainant
- Trying to find out who made the complaint in the first place
These are all examples of ……….
Retaliation
Any adverse action taken against an employee for filing a complaint or supporting another employees complaint is an example of………
Retaliation
