Workplace Bullying And Harassment Essay

1400 Words6 Pages

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Bullying and harassment at workplace is a widespread social stigma which is well recognized in the healthcare sector, both globally and in Pakistan. It can have devastating effects on the victim’s personal life, health, job satisfaction, performance and productivity. Women are the major victims of workplace harassment in Pakistan’s healthcare sector. Fear of reporting and confusion regarding how to get help has further added to the problem. The responsibility to develop and promote a healthy and safe environment for all workers has to be taken, because existing laws and policies are either ineffective or the general public lacks awareness related to their legal rights. LITERATURE REVIEW Workplace bullying and harassment …show more content…

Sexual harassment is identified as any unwelcome and unwanted sexual advances, verbal or physical behavior of sexual nature and requesting for sexual favours due to which a worker’s performance is affected, he/she suffers from psychological trauma or an offensive/hostile atmosphere is created at the workplace. The occurrence of workplace sexual harassment is linked with several risk factors. The nature of job and particularly the gender ratio at a workplace and traditionally male oriented jobs are among the significant ones. These pose an increased risk for women to face situations of getting sexually offended or harassed. Other important agents are social norms and organizational culture. Bullying and workplace harassment adversely affects the individual victim, the employer organization and at large, the economy. The existence of unsafe work environment characterized by bullying and harassment undermines the business growth and profitability of organizations and also leads to a damaging impact on the organization’s corporate image. Employer organization consequently has to pay in terms of litigation, increased staff turnover and loss of morale, absenteeism, potential workers’ compensation claims etc. Furthermore, workplace harassment results in loss of time and productivity due to negative circumstances keeping employees preoccupied, loss of skill and experience due to employees leaving the organization and harm to company’s market