ASSIGNMENT

ON
BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE

TOPIC: Sexual harassment, ethics at work place

 INDEX

SL. No. TITLE Page No.

1. INTRODUCTION 2

2. SEXUAL HARRASMENT 3

3. 4
ETHICS AT WORKPLACE

7. CONCLUSION 7

8. REFERENCES 7

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 INTRODUCTION
Sexual harassment constitutes acts such unwelcome sexual advances which affects
an individual's employment. Sexual harassment is a problem for many
organizations. Organizations must understand that sexual harassment lies
within the broader context of sex discrimination and inequality of opportunity
in the workplace. Sexual harassment is both an illegal and unethical practice.
Companies need to implement a policy which respects the rights of individual
employees by prohibiting sexual harassment. This policy need to be clearly
stated in the company Code of Ethics and enforced rigorously. Workplace
ethics are, by definition, the moral principles that guide a person's actions in the
workplace. The ethical implications of sexual harassment are concerned with
questions of what is acceptable and unacceptable within the workplace from the
perspective of both women and men. Ethical standards can vary from industry to
industry, and from position to position within an industry. They can also vary by
specific field within a larger industry.

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 SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Sexual harassment is against the law under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010.
Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual behavior, which could be expected to
make a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. It can be physical, verbal
or written.
Sexual harassment is not consensual interaction, flirtation or friendship. Sexual
harassment is not behavior that is mutually agreed upon.
Sexual harassment is covered in the workplace when it happens:

● at work
● at work-related events or where people are carrying out work-related
functions
● between people sharing the same workplace

A single incident is enough to constitute sexual harassment – it doesn’t have to be

repeated.
Men experience sexual harassment but it disproportionately affects women,
especially in the workplace.
Discrimination
According to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, no employee should be
discriminated based on his sex/gender. This federal law is applicable to employers
with 15 employees and more while state-specific laws are applicable to smaller
workplaces. Sexual harassment constitutes a form of workplace discrimination .An
example of sexual harassment which constitutes discrimination includes when an
employer refuses to offers promotions to employees who decline his sexual
advances. Victims of sexual harassment may bring a complaint against a
perpetrator based on discrimination.
Reasonable Woman
According to the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, men and women
may have different perceptions of what constitutes sexual harassment. A behavior
may continue, unless the victim clearly informs the perpetrator that his acts are
unacceptable. Courts apply the reasonable woman or reasonable person test to
assess if an act attains the threshold of what constitutes sexual harassment. If a

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reasonable woman or person in a stable state of mind would view the act as
harassment, then it is likely that the perpetrator committed sexual harassment.
Responsibility and Reporting
An employer has the responsibility of preventing workplace sexual harassment and
taking action before it happens. Employers accomplish this by establishing sexual
harassment and reporting policies. If an employer fulfills this obligation, he may
not be liable if harassment occurs. However, some states such as California require
an employer to take responsibility of harassment acts by his managers. Yet, a
victim of sexual harassment often face the dilemma of reporting and risk losing her
job or not reporting and to be accused of condoning the acts.
Work Environment
The acts of one perpetrator of sexual harassment can create sexually hostile
environment. This means that both female and male employees will be wary of
losing their jobs unless they give in to sexual advances by employers or managers.
Employees who perpetrate sexual harassment against others also put indirect
pressure on others to either leave the job, to report their acts or to tolerate these
acts. Adverse sexual harassment such as discrimination and sexual favoritism can
demoralize otherwise hardworking employees.

ETHICS AT WORKPLACE
Ethics are the moral principles that drive an individual’s behavior. People have
personal ethics in many areas of their lives, such as ethics for family relationships
or romantic relationships. Workplace ethics are, by definition, the moral principles
that guide a person's actions in the workplace. Ethical standards can vary from
industry to industry, and from position to position within an industry. They can
also vary by specific field within a larger industry. For example, the workplace
ethics that doctors and others in the health care industry follow are different from
the ethics that govern police officers and others in law enforcement. In turn, these
ethics are different from the ones that govern telecommunications, IT and
education. Therefore, an individual’s personal workplace ethics depend on his role
in the company, the industry and the company's relationship with the “outside
world,” which includes consumers, vendors and industry regulators.

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Workplace ethics ensures positive ambience at the workplace.
Workplace ethics leads to happy and satisfied employees who enjoy coming to
work rather than treating it as a mere source of burden. Employees also develop a
feeling of loyalty and attachment towards the organization.
Organizations need to have fool-proof systems to measure the performances of
individuals. Appraisal system needs to be designed keeping in mind employee’s
performance throughout the year and his/her career growth. Periodic reviews are
essential. It is mandatory for superiors to know what their subordinates are up to.
You need to know who all are going on the right track and who all need that extra
push.
Workplace ethics ensures management guides and mentors their employees
well.
Appraisal and salary hikes should not happen just for the name sake. Workplace
ethics is important as it enables management to treat all employees as equal and
think from their perspective as well. Employees must have a say in their appraisal
system. Transparency is essential.
An employee is bound to move on after a year or so if he/she is not appreciated and
rewarded suitably. It is indeed the organization’s loss when employees after being
trained quit and move on. Do you think it is entirely the employee’s fault? Why
would an employee move on if he/she is fully satisfied with his /her current
assignment? Employees change primarily because of two reasons - Career growth
and monetary benefits. Management needs to make employees feel secure about
their job and career. Unnecessary favoritism is against workplace ethics. If you
favor anyone just because he is your relative, the other team members are bound to
feel demotivated and thus start looking for new opportunities. An individual’s
output throughout the year should decide his/her increment.
Organizations need to stand by their employees even at the times of crisis. You
cannot ask your employees to go just because you don’t need them anymore or
your work is over. Such a practice is unethical. How can you play with someone’s
career? If an individual has performed well all through but fails to deliver once or
twice, you just can’t kick him out of the system. Workplace ethics says that
organizations need to retain and nurture talents. If you have hired someone, it
becomes your responsibility to train the individual, make him/her aware of the key
responsibility areas, policies, rules and regulations and code of conduct of the
organization. Employees need to be inducted well into the system. They must be
aware of the organization’s policies from the very first day itself.

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Workplace ethics also go a long way in strengthening the bond among
employees and most importantly their superiors.
Employees tend to lie if you do not allow them to take leaves. If you do not allow
an employee to take leave on an important festival, what do you expect the
employee to do? What is the alternative left with him? He would definitely lie. Do
not exploit your employees and don’t treat them as machines. No employee can
work at a stretch without taking a break. It is okay if they talk to their fellow
workers once in a while or go out for a smoke break. Understand their problems as
well. If you feel the problem is genuine, do not create an issue. It is but natural that
once or twice they would definitely call their family members and enquire about
their well-being. Superiors should not have a problem with that.
It has been observed that organizations which are impartial to employees, lend a
sympathetic ear to their grievances and are employee friendly seldom face the
problems of unsatisfied employees and high attrition rate.

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 CONCLUSION
Sexual harassment is a common problem affecting all women in this world
irrespective of the profession that they are in, but legal system is sleeping and so
they fail in providing them security. It’s not all; women living in those countries
having developed legal system face other problems like being fired out of work,
ridiculed, societal pressure or promises of desired promotion, etc. that makes them
left with no words. Sexual harassment is rooted in cultural practices and is
exacerbated by power relations at the workplace. Unless there is enough emphasis
on sensitization at the workplace, legal changes are hardly likely to be successful.
Workplaces need to frame their own comprehensive policies on how they will deal
with sexual harassment. Instead of cobbling together committees at the court’s
intervention, a system and a route of redress should already be in place. Workplace
ethics ensures positive ambience at the workplace. Workplace ethics leads to
happy and satisfied employees who enjoy coming to work rather than treating it as
a mere source of burden. Employees also develop a feeling of loyalty and
attachment towards the organization.

REFERENCES
● managementstudyguide.com
● legalservicesindia.com
● smallbusiness.chron.com
● humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au
● bizfluent.com