How To Differentiate Between ‘Harmless’ And ‘Harassing’ Behaviour At Work

Boundaries.

If boundaries are required in personal relationships, then boundaries are required more so in an office environment.

Take for instance, Mx. A questioned a colleague Mx B, inquiring about Mx. B’s personal relationship. This question, asked once, is ‘harmless’. However, Mx. A persistently asking the same question over and over again without any regard to the boundaries in an office environment is ‘harassment’.

The High Court of Delhi in the judgement of Punita K. Sodhi vs. Union of India & Ors. reported in ((2011) I LLJ 371 Del), relied upon a foreign judgement of 1991 passed by the US Court of Appeals which had made an impactful observation on the test of a ‘reasonable woman’.

The US Court of Appeals had stated that an issue of harassment has to be analyzed from the perspective of the person who has raised a complaint. More often than not, men and women have completely different perspectives and understanding of behaviour. Men may think how they are behaving is ‘harmless’ but women may find that same behaviour as ‘offensive’ or ‘hurtful’ and term it as ‘harassment’. Men think of certain social interactions as harmless and consider any woman objecting to these so called interactions as overly sensitive or humour-less.

Commenting on specific body parts or attire of a woman in a manner considered unwanted and inappropriate for an office environment is crossing a certain boundary. A woman hearing these explicit comments may find them offensive and harassing. Many times, women are also asked to take these comments either as compliments or in a humorous manner. However, comments which may have ambiguous perception seem to be unnecessary in the first place.

In our everyday hectic work schedules and running from one meeting to another, we often blur the lines between appropriate workplace behaviour. Is asking a colleague for coffee harmless? Yes. However, if the colleague has said no but one still insists multiple times and gets aggressive then that is harassment.

Sensitisation on appropriate behaviour at the workplace is one way to ensure boundaries are maintained and the fine line between harmless behaviour and harassing behaviour is understood.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“PoSH Law”) requires every employer to conduct awareness and sensitisation workshops at regular intervals. Therefore, depending on the movement in industry/ company, these workshops should be conducted twice a year, at the minimum.

Similarly, we cannot assume that committees formed at workplaces to address issues of harassment are fully aware whether certain acts/behaviour are wrong or right for a workplace. They too, often have the challenge of weighing the behaviour on the scales of harmless vs. harassing. For instance, a male supervisor reprimanding a female subordinate who is always late to work is well within his rights to do so. Workplace decorum has to be followed at all times. However, if that male supervisor abused the female subordinate and also threatened her with detrimental treatment at work, then it would be construed as harassment.

The PoSH Law therefore also ensures that the committee members are trained and undergo capacity building programs to strengthen their knowledge in order to tackle any complaints. To an untrained eye, lots of acts seem harmless interactions but is only when the committee members are fully aware of the wide ambit of harassment then they are able to make fair and just decisions.

5 Things An Employee Can Do If They Feel Boundaries Are Being Crossed:

1) Identify and define boundaries for self: As individuals we are a product of an upbringing which does not teach us the concept of ‘boundaries’. So, as soon as this concept is introduced to you, please identify your boundaries and define them. What does it mean for you when somebody crosses the lines of physical, verbal, and social conduct?

2) Vocalise: Express them clearly to people around you. It might be difficult in the beginning and you may face questions and rejections for being picky about how people should behave with you and around you. In the long term, it is extremely useful.

3) Find validations for your boundaries: Read the workplace policies on misconduct and sexual harassment and see if what you are saying and setting as boundaries are also endorsed by your Company (most of the time they will be. So it helps to know that you are not the only one).

4) Have open conversations: The problem with the out of line behavior is that people do not know what is “not right” about them. So let people engage you in a conversation. If possible initiate such conversations. Lastly, when you are invited to attend sensitisation and awareness workshops, please do not be a silent spectator and instead participate for others benefits.

5) Proper recourse: File a complaint to the internal committee at the workplace so that an inquiry into the alleged behaviour can start.

5 Things An Employer Can Do To Ensure Boundaries Are Not Crossed At Workplace:

1) Engage in a dialogue with your employees: Continuously engage in conversations with employees to stand-up against any inappropriate behaviour at the workplace.

2) Zero-tolerance policy: Formulate strict policies at workplace regarding misconduct including sexual harassment, and ensure all employees read and abide by them.

3) Sensitise your employees about their rights: They are mandatory to say the least. All employees must be positively encouraged to attend sensitisation and awareness workshops.

4) Proper recourse: If an employee feels that they have informed someone of their inappropriate behaviour but it has not stopped them or are of the opinion that having a dialogue won’t help, then encourage them to take proper recourse. Employees should be encouraged to file a complaint to the internal committee at the workplace so that an inquiry into the alleged acts can start.

5) Training of internal committee members: Employers should ensure all members of an internal committee are trained to handle complaints properly as per the strict procedures given under PoSH Law.

Once we tackle the mindsets of employees and clarify the difference between harmless behaviour and harassment, we address the first issue of prevention of these instances at the workplace.

(Author: Suruchi Kumar is a Labour Law practitioner and works as a consultant with Ungender Legal Advisory)

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The above insights are a product of our learnings from our advisory work at Ungender. Our Team specialises in advising workplaces on gender centric laws including implementation of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

Write to us at contact@ungender.in to understand how we can partner with your organisation to build a more gender compliant and inclusive workplace.