Unfortunately, most women will experience some form of sexual harassment in the workplace. Learn your rights and how to deal with sexual harassment at work.
According to a recent national study, 81% of women and 43% of men of experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime. Many of these occurrences happen in the workplace every day.
Workplace sexual harassment can be a tricky thing to deal with, because you depend on your job for your livelihood, and don’t want to jeopardize your position.
But no one should ever feel like they need to stay silent about being a victim of sexual harassment. Luckily, there are laws in place that protect people who report sexual harassment.
In this blog, we’ll discuss how to deal with sexual harassment at work so you can feel comfortable coming forward and putting an end to the abuse in the office.
How to Deal With Sexual Harassment at Work
Unfortunately, reporting sexual harassment isn’t as simple as just telling the HR department.
You need to prepare to answer questions about your claims because the perpetrator will deny them. Here’s what you need to do when dealing with workplace sexual harassment.
Record the Incident
It’s important to keep a record of the sexual harassment incident that happens in the workplace. Be sure to write down every detail of the incident.
Record who was present at the time of the incident, what was said, and what was done. Try to get signatures of any witnesses to the incident. Put a date on the record and keep it safe so no one else can get to it.
Gather Evidence
Put together a case against the perpetrator because they may deny there was any wrongdoing.
Gather sufficient evidence and be ready to hand it over to HR. For example, if you were sent inappropriate pictures, text messages, or emails, you should print these out and file them with your report of the incident.
Report to HR and Your Supervisor
Once you’ve recorded the incident and gathered any evidence, it’s time to file an official claim with HR and your supervisor.
You should write a formal letter to HR and your supervisor, and request an in-person meeting. Tell them what happened and give them all the evidence you have. Make sure you have copies of everything for your own personal file.
Report to Senior Management
If your HR department and supervisor do not respond to your sexual harassment claim or do not do anything about it, you’ll need to go to senior management.
Write another formal letter to senior management noting that you went to both HR and your supervisor and nothing was done. Give them copies of all of your records and evidence of the harassment.
Hire an Attorney
If your company refuses to do anything about your sexual harassment claim, you should hire sexual harassment attorneys.
You could have ground to sue your employer if they did not do anything in response to your claim, or if you were punished for filing a claim.
For More Information
Workplace sexual harassment is can be a tough situation to handle because you don’t want to risk your job but you definitely won’t want to continue being victimized.
Learning how to deal with sexual harassment at work can help you navigate these problems and feel confident about keeping your job.
Check out our tips blog today for some more helpful information and advice.
