Sexual Harassment Person Company Harasser Making Move Written

In the United States, most companies and organizations have sexual harassment policies. A "policy" is something that is written to describe what a person or organization will do in a specific situation, so a "sexual harassment policy" is a written description of what a company will do when there is sexual harassment at work.

Most sexual harassment policies begin with definitions of sexual harassment and descriptions of the types of "behavior" (actions) that might be sexual harassment. Some common types of sexual harassment include "dirty jokes" (jokes that are sexual), "comments" or things that are said about a person's "physical appearance" (how one looks), and touching that is not wanted or welcomed.

At most companies, the person who is the "victim" (a person who has been hurt by a wrong or illegal activity) is supposed to ask the "harasser" (the person who is doing the sexual harassment) to stop. If the victim is too uncomfortable to do this, he or she should report it to his or her "supervisor" (boss). If the sexually harassing behavior continues, the supervisor will talk to the harasser and "report" (give information about something) the sexual harassment to the "human resources department," which is the department in a company that is responsible for taking care of employees.

The harasser is usually given "written warnings" (letters) that tell him or her that if the behavior doesn't stop, he or she will be "fired" (lose his or her job). If the harasser doesn't believe that he or she is "engaging in" (doing) sexually harassing behavior, he or she can go to a committee of people at the company to "plead his or her case," meaning that he or she will explain the situation from his or her point of view. Then the committee can make a final decision.