Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Impact and Solutions

The report discusses the issues of sexual harassment in the workplace, its impact on employees and organizations, and provides recommendations for addressing and preventing such misconduct. It includes a case study on sexual misconduct at Google and highlights the importance of HR policies and training in creating a safe and respectful work environment.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
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Executive Summary
The report has thrown light on the different issues related to sexual harassment which affects
the morale of the employees and impacts the overall productivity of the organization
negatively. With the help of the various policies and framework related to Human Resource
Management, the various issues have been highlighted and it helped in improving the
scenario positively. Furthermore, the different terms which are used in sexual misconduct in
the workplace have been used with the help of the Google Company Case Study which
helped in improving the scenario with the implementation of the different HR related policies
and improve the situation effectively.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
2.0 Sexual Misconduct Against Women Employees at Google................................................3
2.1 Leadership Outlook and Corporate Obligation................................................................4
2.2 Education, Awareness and Training of Employees Regarding Health and Safety of
Employees..............................................................................................................................4
2.3 Hostile Working Environment.........................................................................................4
3.0 Mass Walkout Among Employees after Sexual Misconduct Allegations...........................6
3.1 Effect of Unreasonably Interfering with Work Performance of Individuals...................6
3.2 Quid pro quo harassment.................................................................................................6
4.0 Conclusion............................................................................................................................8
5.0 Recommendations................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................10

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1.0 Introduction
The report throws light on the overall analysis of the issue which has been faced by
the employees working at Google. From the news report, it can be seen that Google CEO has
fired many employees for the sexual harassment case which occurred over the past two years.
In the competitive business environment, it can be seen that the different federal laws have
been implemented by the companies to protect the different staffs in varied kind of settings of
the workplace, however the primary goal of the Human Resource Department is to ensure
that the health and safety at work for the different employees both male and female who are
employed.
The major aim and purpose of the report are to analyze the health and safety issues which are
being faced by the employees in Google which have been posted at the ABC Net News.
Furthermore, the importance of the health and safety of the employees working in the
organization will be discussed which will improve the overall scenario and it will be a safe
working place for the organization as well.
2.0 Sexual Misconduct Against Women Employees at Google
In this section, the main concern which will be discussed is relating to the sexual
misconduct which has been faced by the women employees working in the organization
Google. The Chief Executive of Google has complained that more than 48 employees have
been fired due to the sexual misconduct over the past two years and it has affected the overall
faith of the employees on the higher officials of the organization (Abc.net.au, 2019). There
are different reasons which cause the issues relating to health and safety of the employees and
it leads to different problems in the working environment as well.

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2.1 Leadership Outlook and Corporate Obligation
In the emerging economies, it has been noticed that there is a convergence of the OHS
with the business. The business goals of Google are aligned mostly with productivity and
gaining profits in the market. Google has failed to recognise the OHS as the most strategic
enabler of sustained economic growth. In the current scenario, the employees are mainly
focused on achieving the goals, and the higher management officials do not take care of the
safety of the employees (Von Gruenigen & Karlan, 2018). Due to the particular reason, the
companies fail to recognise the excellent record of OHS which can be a strategic kind of
differentiator and source of gaining competitive advantage.
2.2 Education, Awareness and Training of Employees Regarding Health and Safety of
Employees
In the current business scenario, it has been noticed that the biggest worry in the
organizations is that the employees are not receiving any training and awareness on
occupational health and safety policies and procedures. In Google, it was noticed that the
employees were not provided with any knowledge on the systems such as Zero Tolerance
Policies which plays a significant role in managing such situations of sexual harassment (Lee,
2018). It has been noticed that there is lack of awareness among the employees as they feel
they require to go through such situation; however, it is not the situation, and it means that
there is lack of awareness among the employees (Morral, Gore & Schell, 2015).
2.3 Hostile Working Environment
In different organisations, it has been noticed that the hostile working environment is
the primary concern which is affecting the overall scenario. There is the inclusion of
different unwelcome comments or conducting which are based on race, gender, disability
and sexual orientation that unreasonably interferes with the work performance of

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employees, and it creates the offensive situation in the workplace (Morral, Gore & Schell,
2016).
The concerned authorities do not take any proper steps regarding harassment or sexual
misconduct, and therefore, it is the main reason for the increase in such kinds of cases. From
the various issues which have been updated form US Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, it has been noticed that sexual harassment occurs when there is submission or
the rejection of the conduct implicitly or explicitly which affects the individual's employment
and the superiors try to interfere with the work performance of the individuals unreasonably
or creates an intimidating and hostile working environment which is the primary cause of the
entire situation and makes the case more offensive and it is termed as constructive discharge
(Abc.net.au, 2019).
It is the other primary type of sexual harassment which involves the creation of the
work environment which is hostile, and there are various HR related factors which should be
considered are as follow:
 Whether the entire conduct was threatening physically and rather than just offensive
 When conduct as the whole was unreasonable interference, and it affects the work
performance of the employees working in the organization (Baer, 2017)
 When the behaviour is affecting the psychological wellbeing of the employees which
can be inclusive of harmless sexual jokes or teasing which can be offensive and it is
termed as the hostile and offensive gesture which should be reported as there should
be immediate steps which are required to be taken (McDonald & Charlesworth, 2016)
However, there are different Human Resource Policies which can be implemented by
the various organizations as it will reduce the number of misconducts which are taking place.
There are two types of the HR mechanisms of complaints such as formal and informal

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which will help improve the overall scenario positively. The primary objective of the HR
policy against sexual harassment at the workplace includes the providing of protection of the
women in the workplace and treat them with respect (Malhotra & Srivastava, 2016).
3.0 Mass Walkout Among Employees after Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Due to the sexual misconduct of the women employees in Google, there was a mass
walkout among the employees which affected the overall brand image of the company
negatively. The Google employees are protesting about the technology treatment of the
company on women along with ethnic minorities in the series of unprecedented series of
walkouts across the world (Schultz, 2018).
3.1 Effect of Unreasonably Interfering with Work Performance of Individuals
In the different organizations, it can be seen that different employees do not have the
courage to complain regarding the different unwelcomed behaviour which has been
experienced by them (McDonald, Charlesworth & Graham, 2016). There is inclusion of
sexual favoritism in the company among few employees in which this has been noticed that
there are different instances which have been seen as follows: For example- When one
employee is granted with promotion in return of the various sexual favors, this means there is
denied equal opportunity for the development as there is improper sexual misconduct.
3.2 Quid pro quo harassment
It is a Latin term which means that there is something for something aspect or this for that.
When an employee in the company is asked regarding the submission of the sexual bid for
instance- promotions or paying in advance can cause quid pro quo harassment and it affects
the morale of the employees as these are the different situations of the sexual harassment
which is being faced by employees (Buchanan et al.., 2018). There are different times when

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there is offensive but tolerated misconduct in the workplace, and it affects the courage of
employees in complaints regarding the same (Quick & McFadyen, 2017).
Furthermore, in the case of Google, it has been noticed that the senior officials of the
organization did the sexual misconduct which was faced by the different women employees,
and it was a substantial inappropriate kind of behaviour which should not be entertained by
the women employees as it is illegal and unlawful that affects the brand image of the
company (Kinge et al., 2016).
Figure 1: Examples of Sexual Harassment
(Source: Gutek, 2015)
From the diagram, it can be analyzed that these are the few examples of sexual
misconduct which can take place in the organization and it affects the employees negatively.
When there is constant along with repeated unwanted jokes along with comments, it can
affect the legal standards of the workplace which will be affecting the business environment

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negatively (Verma & Chandra, 2015). As per the different current issues which have been
updated from different Equal Opportunity Commission, it can be seen that in case of
offensive kind of working environment, the employees should complain regarding the same
to the HR department as they are the ones who will be taking steps against the same.
4.0 Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that workplace sexual harassment is one of the major
reasons which affects the morale of the women employees as there is no such inclusion of
equality among employees. There are various kinds of situations such as Quid pro quo
harassment along with the hostile working environment which can affect the working
environment of the workplace and it will lead to inequality among men and women. The
proper establishment of the procedure for harassment complaints are the other technique
which can be involved by the workplace which will improve the situation effectively.
Furthermore, it has been noticed that from the news of Google, it can be seen that the
CEO of the company has taken a massive step by terminating the higher official executives
working in the organization as to improve the situation and it will lead to proper equality
among employees. Similarly, in the present scenario, there are different kinds of situations
which occurs in the various organizations and the women employees are standing against
them and it is making the situation controllable.
5.0 Recommendations
From the above scenario of the news of ABC net and other scenarios, there are different
recommendations which can be provided as to improve the overall situation and it will reduce
the misconduct against the women employees in various fields of work. The different
recommendations are as follows:

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 The proper establishment of the procedure for the harassment complaints wherein
investigation is the central aspect which will improve the scenario
 Creation of Zero Tolerance Policy is the other aspect which can be implemented in
different organizations wherein it is the written policy wherein it is stated that the
harassment will not be tolerated may be of any kind.
 The companies can implement the different acts such as Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 as it will help in prohibiting the discrimination of employment which is
based on race or gender biasness is available in the organization
 Training the managers and supervisors play a vital role once a month wherein all the
necessary terms and actions are required to be implemented which will improve the
scenario and the overall scenario can be managed.

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References
Abc.net.au (2019) Google CEO Sundar Pichai says tech giant has fired dozens of staff for
sexual harassment over past two years (online) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-
26/google-has-fired-dozens-of-employees-over-sexual-harassment/10432294
[Accessed on 11 February 2019]
Abc.net.au (2019) Google employees stage mass walkouts — World News with Madeleine
Genner (online) Retrieved from
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/world-news-with-
madeleine-genner/10458568 [Accessed on 11 February 2019]
Baer, S. (2017). Dignity or Equality?: Responses to Workplace Harassment in European,
German, and US Law. In Gender and Rights (pp. 483-502). Routledge.
Buchanan, N. T., Settles, I. H., Wu, I. H., & Hayashino, D. S. (2018). Sexual Harassment,
Racial Harassment, and Well-being among Asian American Women: An
Intersectional Approach. Women & Therapy, 1-20.
Gutek, B. A. (2015). Sexual harassment. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1-1.
King, D. R., Gupta, V. K., Baker, A., Tempio, M., Nalick, M. S., & Pierce, C. A. (2016).
Impact of the disclosure of executive workplace social-sexual behavior on firm
performance. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2016, No. 1, p. 10529).
Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Lee, J. (2018). Passive leadership and sexual harassment: Roles of observed hostility and
workplace gender ratio. Personnel Review, 47(3), 594-612.

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Malhotra, S., & Srivastava, A. (2016). Sexual harassment at the workplace: how
organizations can pro-actively reduce its incidence. Human Resource Management
International Digest, 24(7), 1-3.
McDonald, P., & Charlesworth, S. (2016). Workplace sexual harassment at the
margins. Work, employment and society, 30(1), 118-134.
McDonald, P., Charlesworth, S., & Graham, T. (2016). Action or inaction: Bystander
intervention in workplace sexual harassment. The International Journal of Human
Resource Management, 27(5), 548-566.
Morral, A. R., Gore, K. L., & Schell, T. L. (2015). Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in
the US Military. Volume 2. Estimates for Department of Defense Service Members
from the 2014 RAND Military Workplace Study. RAND NATIONAL DEFENSE
RESEARCH INST SANTA MONICA CA.
Morral, A. R., Gore, K. L., & Schell, T. L. (Eds.). (2016). Sexual Assault and Sexual
Harassment in the US Military: Volume 4. Investigations of Potential Bias in
Estimates from the 2014 RAND Military Workplace Study (Vol. 4). Rand Corporation.
Quick, J. C., & McFadyen, M. (2017). Sexual harassment: Have we made any
progress?. Journal of occupational health psychology, 22(3), 286.
Schultz, V. (2018). Open Statement on Sexual Harassment from Employment Discrimination
Law Scholars. Stan. L. Rev. Online, 71, 17.
Verma, B., & Chandra, A. (2015). Sexual harassment at the workplace: how far have we
travelled. Gyanodaya, 8(2), 45.
Von Gruenigen, V. E., & Karlan, B. Y. (2018). Sexual harassment in the workplace: Its
impact on gynecologic oncology and women's health.