Workplace harassment

Workplace harassment is the belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers

Recently, matters of workplace harassment have gained interest among practitioners and researchers as it is becoming one of the most sensitive areas of effective workplace management. In Asian countries, it attracted lots of attention from researchers and governments since the 1980s, because a significant source of work stress is associated with aggressive behaviors at workplace. Third world countries are far behind Asian countries in that there are limited efforts to investigate the questions on workplace harassment. It is almost unseen and the executive leaders (managers) are almost reluctant or unconscious about it in the third world countries. Under occupational health and safety laws around the world, workplace harassment and workplace bullying are identified as being core psychosocial hazards.

Workplace harassment is also known by many other names. "Mobbing", "workplace bullying", "workplace mistreatment", "workplace aggression", and "workplace abuse" are all either synonymous or belong to the category of workplace harassment. Workplace harassment includes different types of discrimination and acts of violation that are not confined to one specific group. The wide-ranging types of workplace harassment can be loosely categorized into emotional and physical abuse. All of these forms of workplace harassment target various groups, including women, racial minorities, homosexuals, and immigrants. In essence, workplace harassment requires pluralistic understanding, because it cannot be delineated in one coherent and concrete definition.

Acknowledging the difficulty of formulating a universal definition of workplace harassment, Ezer broadly defines workplace harassment as "irrational repeated behavior towards an employee or group of employees, which represents a health and security risk. Any act of discrimination or assault that systematically disadvantage the employees is considered workplace harassment. Workplace harassment can contribute to deterioration of physical and emotional health.

According to Rosa Brook, the concept of workplace harassment is based on two premises. Firstly, regardless of gender, race, sexuality or any other defining characteristic, every person should be given the right to be "free from abusive treatment in the workplace". With freedom from abuse given as a basic human right, any form of discomfort or discrimination in workplace becomes labeled as an act of harassment. Secondly, the issues caused by workplace harassment affect the victims in harmful ways. Discrimination in the workplace hinders victims from successful advancement in their careers, limiting the capabilities of the victim.

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Wikipedia