The Department of Fair Employment and Housing of the State of California defines workplace sexual harassment as any action that seeks to discriminate against a person within their work space on the basis of sex or gender.
In accordance with the foregoing, it is not necessary to speak of an explicit sexual desire towards another to be considered a crime, however, if there are reasons to exclude another human being due to their gender identity or expression; or due to a medical or health situation such as pregnancy while fulfilling a schedule or workload, this can be considered discrimination, and, therefore, a violation of employment laws.
How is sexual harassment manifested at work?
If you have colleagues or bosses who:
- Make unwelcome sexual advances directly or indirectly
- They offer job benefits in exchange for sexual favors
- They make graphic comments about sex
- Use inappropriate and demeaning words to refer to others
- Make suggestive invitations to meet outside the workplace
- They have leering at your body
- They make use of obscene gestures to get your attention
- Start conversations for the purpose of insulting or being derogatory
- Use professional media to send inappropriate or sexual images, messages or videos
- They seek physical contact, whether they work remotely or face-to-face
We can say that we are facing a situation of harassment in our work space.
What to do?
The first thing is to understand what type of sexual harassment you are suffering.
1- Quid pro Quo: That is, when another person conditions your professional promotion or part of your work benefits that correspond to you by law through submission.
2- Due to a hostile work environment: In this case, your colleague or boss behaves inappropriately or makes uncomfortable comments to interfere with your daily professional activities.
Once you manage to identify the type of discrimination that you are tolerating, it is best to contact a lawyer or a legal firm that can offer you options to make your complaint in the best possible way.
Remember that if you have evidence of the harassment you are receiving, it is best to present it immediately when speaking with your legal representative.
If you consider that there is no evidence in this regard, but you have co-workers who are willing to help you through their testimonies, do not ignore this and report the situation to a local institution and together with your companion.
The most important?
Share the case with others inside or outside your work space and take legal action in this regard, since California laws protect you from this type of abuse and you cannot allow another(s) to condition your activities and professional merits for this reason.
Remember that the employer is obliged to pay retroactive or compensation, promote you if required, fire the person causing the conflict due to his behavior, or change the work policies that ensure a better coexistence during the work routine, what which may include coaching or group dynamics at certain times of the day.
If you are the head of a company or business and you want to avoid this type of situation, take into account that the Department of Equality in Employment and Housing offers preventive, free and online courses to ensure decent and fair treatment for all members of the your work team.