What harassment and a respectful workplace mean

People use the word harassment loosely, so it helps to separate three layers. The first is the law. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission describes harassment as unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age forty and older, disability or genetic information. Under federal law it becomes illegal when putting up with it becomes a condition of keeping the job, or when it is severe or pervasive enough that a reasonable person would find the workplace intimidating, hostile or abusive. The EEOC is clear that petty slights and isolated incidents, unless extremely serious, usually do not reach that legal line.

The second layer is Minnesota law. The Minnesota Human Rights Act protects more groups than federal law does. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights lists race, religion, disability, national origin, sex, marital status, familial status, age, sexual orientation and gender identity among the protected classes, and the Act also prohibits reprisal against people who assert their rights. Age protection under state law starts at the age of majority rather than at forty.

The third layer is state and agency policy, and this is where most everyday conduct is addressed. Minnesota Management and Budget sets statewide human resources policies for executive branch agencies. Its Harassment and Discrimination Prohibited policy covers unwelcome conduct tied to protected class, including offensive jokes, slurs, and deliberate misgendering or mispronunciation of a name. Its Respectful Workplace policy covers disrespectful conduct that is not tied to protected class: shouting, threats, demeaning or humiliating treatment, bullying, and sabotaging someone's work. DHS has its own policies that follow the same pattern. Policy standards are deliberately set below the legal line, so an employer can correct behavior before it becomes a legal problem.

Here is the practical point. You do not have to decide whether something is illegal harassment, a policy violation or just a bad day before you raise it. Sorting that out is the job of Human Resources and the DHS Equal Opportunity and Access Division. Your job is to notice, to respond in a way that is safe, and to route the concern to people who can act. This course builds shared language for doing that. It does not make anyone an investigator or a legal decision-maker.

Fictional case: In a DSD policy team meeting, Corwin keeps calling a coworker, Ilse, by a shortened nickname she has asked him not to use. He jokes that her full name is too hard. Later, in a message thread, he mocks her accent. Ilse's teammate Marguerite notices both. Marguerite is not sure whether this counts as harassment or just rudeness, and she worries that if she calls it harassment and is wrong, she will look like she is overreacting.

Find the current DHS respectful workplace and harassment and discrimination policies on the DHS intranet or through your HR contact. Note in your own words one example of conduct each policy names, and where each policy says to report.

Think about a time you hesitated to name something at work because you were not sure it was serious enough. What would have helped you feel able to raise it without first having to judge it?