What you need to know about harassment and how to deal with it in the workplace

Inappropriate treatment is behaviour or actions toward another person at work that are contrary to the law, common decency, or one’s own work responsibilities. Harassment occurs when a person is systematically, repeatedly, and over a long period of time subjected to oppressive, offensive, or subjugating behavior that causes them harm to their health. The perpetrator may be a coworker, subordinate, or an outside person, such as a customer. Harassment is a form of inappropriate treatment. 

What is not harassment: For example, decisions made by the employer based on their managerial rights, even if these may be perceived as unpleasant, such as: 

• assigning and monitoring work tasks, 

• intervening in work performance, giving a reprimand or a warning (provided that the intervention is justified). 

How should harassment and inappropriate behavior be addressed?  

An employee who has experienced harassment or other inappropriate treatment should bring up the matter with the person (or persons) whose behavior they found inappropriate, and express that they do not accept such behavior. 

The employer may use internal or external resources to investigate the matter. The key point is that the party conducting the investigation must be impartial (note: conflict of interest). An external investigator may be, for example, a law firm, a workplace mediator, or occupational health services. However, even in these cases, the ultimate responsibility for the investigation remains with the employer. 

If it is found that harassment or inappropriate treatment has occurred, the employer must take action to stop it using the means available to them. Depending on the situation, this may involve, for example, a discussion with the supervisor, a warning (if it is the employer’s practice to issue a warning before a reprimand), or a notice of dismissal, provided that the measure is appropriate and proportionate to the situation 

What are the responsibilities of a supervisor?  

The employer must intervene in harassment immediately upon becoming aware of it. The employer has a duty to investigate all reports related to harassment and inappropriate treatment. All reports must be investigated in a manner determined by the employer, even in cases where the name of the person behaving inappropriately is not disclosed. 

Why should harassment and inappropriate behavior be addressed? 

The law requires employers to address harassment of employees in the workplace. The employer or their representative may be held criminally liable if they fail to address harassment or inappropriate behavior adequately. If the employer or their representative does not intervene in a situation where an employee is being harassed at work, the employer may be considered guilty of discrimination, meaning the employer is then responsible for the harassment alongside the employee who behaved inappropriately. 

Note: It is highly recommended that workplaces establish clear guidelines for preventing and handling inappropriate treatment, and ensure that these are known to everyone 

How can harassment be prevented?   

• Create shared ground rules for workplace behavior, along with clear instructions and procedures for handling harassment situations. 

• Workplace hazards and risks must be assessed regularly. 

• New employees should be familiarized with the appropriate work culture. 

• Supervisors should receive training on recognizing, preventing, and addressing harassment and inappropriate behavior. 

• It is also beneficial to provide training on responsible workplace behavior for the entire work community. 

• It is important to convey a clear message to the work community that harassment of any kind is not tolerated.  

Read the mini guide on harassment and how to intervene, written by Finnish Education Employers’s labour market experts (available in Finnish).