Stephen Hammond's
Tip #7 — KEEPING AN EYE ON SOCIAL EVENTS
Most harassment cases off workplace property are not severe, and do not end with a person being fired. In my experience, most involve booze, parties or an infatuation. As the late comedian Phyllis Diller said, "What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day." Perhaps you should encourage the employees under your wing to take their comments to heart. When companies hire me to train employees about harassment issues, they often ask me to dwell a little on booze and company outings, due to unfortunate incidents in their past.
Not that employees shouldn't socialize after hours. When problems do occur, most off-premises conflicts do not involve harassment. Personality conflicts or other problems that don't fit the definition of harassment do not have to be settled with a harassment policy or procedure. You might have a problem on your hands, but it won't be harassment.
Infatuations are particularly tricky to identify and deal with. As often as not, the person needs counselling of some kind. Your role is simply to let spurned employees know they need to keep their feelings in check, while ensuring that the object of their desires feels completely comfortable bringing any problem to your attention.
You can minimize the chances of off-premises issues becoming a bigger problem by letting employees know even their actions off the work site can become a workplace concern.
SUPERVISORY SUGGESTIONS:
Deal with an issue immediately - when an incident takes place at a workplace social function, deal with it right there. In other words, if people are making fools of themselves, on top of the tables, pull them down and have a chat right away.
Deal with an issue immediately after the fact - if you don't know of something until after the event, then take immediate action once you do. Don't let it simmer.
Deal with the person involved - and don't punish everyone. There are many instances where one person (or a few) take part in inappropriate behaviour and suddenly everyone finds themselves in a training session about harassment. Don't punish everyone for the actions of a few (or one). Deal with that person and be clear what went wrong and what needs to be done to correct the situation.
Tip #8 — DEAL WITH FALSE ACCUSERS
Many supervisors get worried that employees can use a false claim of harassment as a way of bringing down a boss or colleague they don’t like. It can happen, but it's very, very rare.
Recently, the #IBelieveHer Movement has been in response to many women not being believed regarding sexual harassment or sexual assault. Since most women (or anyone for that matter) do not make up, or exaggerate inappropriate behaviour, we truly want to believe people when they come forward with information. However, a good and fair system ensures people get to hear complaints against them, and respond.
When the facts support a complaint in or around the workplace, discipline will be taken. When the facts don’t support a complaint, or there’s not enough to prove the complaint, it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and there could be more oversight to keep an eye on things.
These are very different from complaints made when the complainer knows full well there’s no truth to them. If someone knowingly makes a false accusation, most of the time, the system will work and the facts will come out. The accusation may be out of line with the character of the accused harasser, or the so-called victim will slip up on some lie, or the accuser will confess. These are rare, but they happen. And in cases like these, there must be consequences for a false accuser.
If there are no consequences for a false accusation, others will think they can get away with the same and the wrongly accused will be furious. For the sake of fairness, employee morale, and avoidance of future such cases, if not for overall honesty's sake, I say it's far better to take stern action against the person who knowingly made the false accusation.
The fact that false accusations are rare is little comfort to those who find themselves falsely accused. In my experience, when a case doesn't progress to the point they can clear their name, or when it takes too long to do so, they feel, rightfully, that the system isn't working.
SUPERVISORY SUGGESTIONS:
Don't confuse a misunderstanding with a false accusation - as they are very different. There are many cases of a misunderstanding. A person thought something was said, when it wasn't, or something was taken completely out of context. When cooler heads prevail, you ask a few questions, you realize there was no harassment at all, and the matter is resolved. That is not a false accusation.
Prevent a false accusation from becoming workplace folk lore - as so often that's what they become. When a person is falsely accused and you discover this, if the situation isn't handled properly and people aren't informed, then for years, people will point to that example as to why the system doesn't work. You'd be amazed how little people remember of a real harassment case, yet how long their memories last for a false accusation.
Keep an eye on the false accuser - as there may be other things going on. Since people rarely falsely accuse a colleague of harassment, I figure there has to be something else going on with that person. I'm no psychologist, but I figure this person is in need of just a bit more supervision. Don't "harass" this person, but keep an eye out. When they've proven themselves, then things can get back to normal. And with this example, presumably there has been some discipline for the false accusation in the first place.
These are TIPS 7 & 8 of 26 BI-WEEKLY TIPS for managers and supervisors.
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