Workplace Misconduct

All offices should aim to make sure their employees are treated fairly and equally.

Here are some common forms of misconduct that are either unethical or illegal in an office.

bullying

Bullying is the act of treating people in a mean and threatening way.

Office bullies target people who they can push around.

In most cases, office bullying is done by someone with authority, such as a manager or senior employee.

sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is when someone behaves sexually in a way that makes people uncomfortable.

It includes sexual jokes or comments about a person's appearance.

Sometimes people won't report sexual harassment because they're afraid of being retaliated against.

discrimination

Discrimination happens when someone is treated differently from others in unfair way.

People are often discriminated against because of their age, race, or sex.

If someone has been refused a job because of the skin color, they have been discriminated against.

retaliation

Retaliation refers to acting against someone who has upset you.

In the office, retaliation can occur when an employee has offended their manager.

If they have reported their manager, their manager may try to punish them.

They may give the employee extra work to do, or become overly critical of the employee's work.

Questions

Why might someone not  report that they have been sexual harassed?

> they are afraid of being retaliated against

What is an example of office bullying? 

>a manger harassing an employee

An office bully may use their power to embarrass or insult other employees.

He was fired after being accused of sexual harassment.

While many people have experienced workplace bullying, many offices don't have policies to prevent it.

More often than not, workplace bullying won't be reported and the victim will just leave the job.

Sometimes office bullies are openly aggressive, but usually they will criticize people behind their back.

They have formed an organization to fight against sexual harassment in the workplace.

How could an employee be retaliated against?

>they may be given more work to do.

Discrimination against someone's gender is also known as sexism.

He said he was fired in retaliation for reporting the sexual harassment problem in his company. 

He felt he was fired in retaliation for complaining his manager, so he sued the company.

She thought her manager was retaliating against her by not giving her a promotion.

Most countries have laws to protect against workplace discrimination.

It is illegal to discriminate against someone's age when hiring them.

If an employee is unfairly treated because she is a woman, she is being discriminated against.