How to Write a Statement About Hostile Work Environments
Hostile work environments are not positive and can be an unfortunate reality in some offices. If you are working in a hostile environment and want to speak out, write a statement. Honesty and a clear understanding of what makes the environment hostile are essential to writing a statement about a hostile work environment. Silence about a negative workplace does no good for anyone. Instead, it allows hostile behavior to continue without being addressed, reinforcing the idea that the negative behavior is OK.
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Instructions
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Keep a professional tone throughout the statement. If you are personally affected by a hostile work environment, you may experience many conflicting emotions and have difficulty writing without being influenced by them.
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Explain in detail the type of harassment occurring. If it is based on a protected category, like gender, sexuality, disability or religion, write about it. Explain why hostile behaviors that stem from prejudice against one of those categories is not only wrong, but illegal. Determine whether the behavior is extreme, such as physical violence, or pervasive, which means it is happening over and over or to many people.
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Detail the effects of the hostile workplace. Explain how it has affected employee confidence, the flow of the workplace and the profitability of the company. Explain whether work time is being spent on hostile behaviors like sexual harassment or gossip.
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Write examples of the hostile behavior. Be specific. Give dates and times, as well as exactly what happened. Do not write flowery descriptions but instead be dry and exact.
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Detail what has been done about the hostile work environment. Detail the steps taken to correct the behavior, such as a discussion with supervisors. If hostile behavior gets worse after an attempt to correct it, explain and detail those occurrences, too.
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Write an explanation of what you would like done about the hostile work environment. Explain how the situation can be corrected. Suggest things like workplace training, supervisor meetings or anonymous reporting procedures.
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Tips & Warnings
Make it clear that things like sexual harassment and bullying at work are not OK. They are not the actions of adults and no employee should have to feel uncomfortable at work.
There are no laws against a hostile work environment, but there are certainly laws about discrimination and physical abuse.
