A new Online Interactive Risk Assessment (OiRA) tool helps businesses prevent and address workplace harassment, with a strong emphasis on sexual harassment, according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
It guides employers in involving workers when defining unacceptable behaviour and recognising situations where power imbalances or low oversight can allow misconduct to go unchecked.
The OiRA tool produces a tailored action plan – setting out practical measures ranging from awareness‑raising and training to trusted reporting channels and clear consequences for harassers – built directly on each organisation’s responses.
Free and easy to use, OiRA strengthens prevention, paving the way for healthier workplaces and quality jobs in Europe.
Examples
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in 2022, a Mexican employee working at a restaurant in Florida experienced continuous verbal harassment because of his race and national origin. After the employer failed to take appropriate action, the employee filed a complaint with the EEOC, which later pursued the case in court.
As a result, he was awarded $45,000 in compensation, and the company was required to implement new policies and training programs to help protect employees from similar incidents in the future.
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, employees at a McDonald’s restaurant in Vermont were subjected to serious sexual harassment by a male night shift manager. The manager allegedly touched employees inappropriately, groped their genitals, breasts, and buttocks, and made sexually explicit comments and threats of physical violence. Most of the victims were teenagers working at the restaurant.
The EEOC also stated that one employee faced retaliation after reporting the harassment, as her disability accommodation was removed, forcing her to resign. The company, Coughlin Inc., agreed to pay $1.6 million as part of the settlement and was required to introduce measures to improve workplace protection and prevent future harassment.
Dignity first
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), every individual has the right to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace, and organisations should treat all forms of unfair behaviour, including bullying and harassment, with seriousness. HR and people professionals play an important role in creating and promoting a positive and inclusive working environment where unfair treatment is not accepted.
Bullying and harassment can target one or more individuals and may occur as a one-time incident or repeatedly over time. This behaviour can range from severe intimidation, such as physical aggression, to less obvious actions like deliberately excluding or ignoring someone. Examples include:
- Inappropriate or unwanted comments about personal issues.
- Excluding someone from social interactions or refusing to cooperate with them.
- Ongoing and unjustified criticism.
- Insulting or offensive personal remarks.
Unfair treatment can happen face to face, but it may also occur online through cyberbullying. This includes using the internet, mobile devices, social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, or phones to harass, intimidate, or harm another person.
Jokes and name calling
EEOC accentuates that offensive conduct may include, but is not limited to, offensive jokes, slurs, epithets or name calling, physical assaults or threats, intimidation, ridicule or mockery, insults or put-downs, offensive objects or pictures, and interference with work performance.
Harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including, but not limited to, the following:
- The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, an agent of the employer, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
- The victim does not have to be the person harassed, but can be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
- Unlawful harassment may occur without economic injury to, or discharge of, the victim.
Employees are encouraged to inform the harasser directly that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. Employees should also report harassment to management at an early stage to prevent its escalation.
11.05.2026.
SOURCE
https://healthy-workplaces.osha.europa.eu/en/media-centre/news/harassment-free-workplaces-lets-draw-line-oira https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/owner-brandon-dennys-pay-45000-settle-eeoc-national-origin-harassment-lawsuit https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/major-new-england-mcdonalds-owneroperator-pay-1600000-settle-eeoc-class-harassment-and
