Sexual harassment has been a topic of conversation in mainstream media lately, and people are finally standing up for themselves in the case of sexual harassment. Previously, sexual harassment issues were known to be swept under the rug, especially in certain industries. When victims of sexual harassment were not protected, it was hard for them to come forward.
Sexual harassment in the workplace can create an unhealthy environment that trickles into every part of your business. Not only does sexual harassment reduce productivity, but it also leads to mental and physical ailments in your employees. It can often lead to expensive and drawn-out legal action against your company and employees. Preventing sexual harassment is important to your company and the responsibility of the employer.
Effects of Sexual Harassment
The effects of sexual harassment can range from mental and physical distress, a lack of a cohesive and productive workforce, and legal retribution. By preventing sexual harassment in your company, you can save time lost, excess sick days, legal fees, and loss of employees. The effects of sexual harassment are broad and long-lasting.
Health Effects
Victims of sexual harassment can experience a range of physical and mental effects. The most common issues that contributed to harassment are anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The mental effects can be long-lasting and long-term, especially if occurred early in the victim’s career.
Sexual harassment can be linked to causing some long-term health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart issues. It can also lead to short-term issues, such as frequent headaches, lower immune system, and weight fluctuation. For more information about some health effects, check out this article.
The health effects of sexual harassment will directly impact your company. This will lead to more sick leave, a higher cost of health insurance, and a lack of predictability in your employees.
Job Performance
Sexual harassment cases have been known to directly affect the employee’s ability to effectively perform at the same level as before the harassment. It is also proven that prolonged harassment will cause a continuous decline in performance. Many victims have been known to disengage from their work. The effects of sexual harassment lead to inability to concentrate, lack of motivation, anxiety and increased stress.
In one study, not only was the victim’s productivity affected, the workplace as a whole saw a decrease. Team or workgroup productivity is often determined by the group working together as a whole. When incidents occur within that group, the effects can be felt by everyone. These studies, focused specifically on women in the workplace, can be found at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519461/.
Employee Retention
The effects of sexual harassment also include the likelihood of a victim leaving their job. One study shows that unresolved harassment has directly impacted 34 percent of employees’ decision to leave a job. When claims are left unresolved or ignored, employees are more likely to leave their current job. These claims can lead to employee distrust and disloyalty to the company in general. This also includes those who have witnessed harassment, not just the victims of the harassment.
Legal
Legally, the state of California requires employers to provide training and prevention policies for their employees. If sexual harassment claims are found to not be handled by the company, they are liable for damages. Legal fees can be costly in harassment cases. The easiest way to protect your company and your employees is to provide harassment prevention training and take every harassment claim seriously.
Sexual Harassment Prevention
The most effective prevention method is extensive training, open communication, and quick action is taken when claims arise. Online options for sexual harassment training in California make it easy to provide harassment training for all your employees, even if they are working remotely. The training should give clear definitions of what sexual harassment is, how to spot it, and where to report it.
Under California law, employers are required to provide a one-hour training for their general employees, and a two-hour training for supervisors. These training sessions are mandatory and must be reviewed every two years. Included in the training for supervisors is the process for handling sexual harassment reports.
The majority of sexual harassment cases that don’t get reported, go unreported because people don’t know what constitutes sexual harassment, or don’t know where to report it. Making these behaviors clear and understandable will keep your employees informed on what behavior is acceptable, and what to do when it isn’t.
Encourage your employees to report any behavior that can be considered sexual harassment. You want to provide multiple lines of communication for your employees to report these situations. Some people may feel uncomfortable or embarrassed, so it’s always a good idea to have an anonymous option.
Harassment is an unfortunately common theme in workplaces, but it is up to every employer to do everything they can to prevent harassment and protect their employees.
