While we still harass each other sexually at work, it seems we are perfecting other ways to discriminate, as well. Racial and disability discrimination are up in the last 12 months. And claims of ageism were up during all the layoffs.
The law mandates that employers keep their workplaces safe (all those OSHA regs) and free from discrimination (sexual harassment is a form of discrimination -- based on sex), but aren't these common-sense issues? Of course you want your emplyees to be safe. But the devil is in the details, and we seem to need to have someone to sue (blame) if something goes wrong. The same thing goes with sexual harassment: we all know it is on our best interest to demand respect in the workplace, but we don't all define harassment the same way.
I say keep it simple: rather than bother trying to define illegal harassment, just enforce the respect rule. This would mean that anything that falls short of respectful behavior is not OK; will be addressed,and must be corrected. Set the bar low enough that behavior is not likely to get as high as the legal definitions. That would take care of all the kinds of discrimination. And save a lot of pages in the Employee Handbook. And change the world.
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