Workplace harassment is unfortunately still a big problem for many employees. The recent political pushback against many hard-won rights has not helped the situation. Many who previously knew to keep their prejudices to themselves feel emboldened to air them in public, including at work.
Amidst this gloom, there is one bit of good news. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated its guidance on workplace harassment for the first time in 25 years. That’s a considerable amount of time without an update considering all that has happened in those years. Here are two of the key elements of the new guidelines:
Sexual harassment now incorporates pregnancy-related matters
Most people understand that sexual harassment is unacceptable. The EEOC has now made it clear that discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions will be treated as sexual harassment – i.e. it is illegal.
For example: Lactating women no longer have to put up with jokes about breast milk. Pregnant women no longer need to put up with bosses complaining about how frequently they need to use the restroom. Employees no longer need to put up with criticism about the number of kids they have or their choice to use or not use condoms or to have or not have an abortion.
Systemic harassment is officially recognized
You’ve probably heard examples on the news of companies or organizations being accused of (and usually denying) that they are institutionally sexist, racist or similar. The EEOC has made it clear that any business or organization found to be systemically treating a group of people differently because of the protected characteristics they share will face consequences.
Learning more about the new EEOC guidelines may be useful if you believe you have suffered workplace harassment of any kind.