Harassment and Discrimination at the Workplace (Essay Sample)

Harassment and Discrimination at the Workplace
Introduction
Harassment and discrimination are some of the common ethical issues that many people experience while at the workplace. While people understand that the impact of this vice can be catastrophic to the success of any business, they still want to perpetuate and tolerate it. There are several types of workplace harassment, including discriminatory harassment, racial harassment, gender harassment, religious harassment, age-based harassment, and many others. Harassment and discrimination are prevalent at the workplace because there are no proper rules and regulations to govern employees' conduct, or the implementation of such regulations has failed.
Facts about Harassment and Discrimination
Harassment and discrimination at the workplace include verbal or physical contact that discriminates based on color, gender, race, religion, age, national origin, or any advances structured and intended for retaliation (Jones et al., 2018). An employer closes the line when they exhibit pervasive or severe actions that make the working environment hostile. Fortunately, Federal law protects employees who are victims of workplace discrimination and harassment. Therefore, whenever people feel discriminated against at the workplace for one reason or the other, they should not keep it to themselves.
Another fact about harassment and discrimination at the workplace is that verbal abuse is the most common that people in different business settings experience. Stats Canada indicates that 10% of men and 13% of women have experienced this type of harassment within the past year. Verbal abuse includes discriminatory language, spreading gossip and lies, shouting, undermining colleagues, and rudely interrupting people while on their work routine. Indeed verbal abuse presents itself in a wide range of ways, meaning that some people may not even realize it.
Although the people going through the harassment find the whole ordeal disturbing, the truth is that most workplace harassment cases go unreported, and this is because the victims fear retribution. The situation becomes worse if those behind the harassment hold influential positions at the workplace. In many instances, those employees who decide to escalate their complaints on harassment and discrimination end up facing demotion or losing their jobs. Moreover, many organizations do not have adequate resources to report such issues as the people who are likely to benefit are the victims.
Fortunately, the government has policies that guarantee a safe working environment for all people without discrimination. Many government-supported initiatives have been created to protect employees and ensure a proper response from the relevant authorities whenever harassment-related complaints come to light. Unfortunately, it is the responsibility of independent employers to ensure that these directives are respected and followed.