| A
male
,
anonymous
writes: I think I was being harrased at work by a male co-worker. What should I do?
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Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
female
reader, Hopeful +, writes (20 June 2006):
 Good advice so far.
You have to report it to your boss/supervisor.
Every person in the workplace has a right to feel safe - safe from dangerous working conditions and safe from unwanted attention from co-workers (be that abuse, bullying, sexual harassment) etc.
You have a right to go to work and feel comfortable and safe and if you don't, you need to talk about it.
If you don't, you will feel unhappy at work and perhaps leave. (a) this is unfair on you (b) this person may start doing it to someone else which creates even more problems.
As Bev said, keep a diary of it. Write down times, dates, what was said, what happened. If there were any witnesses like a client or a co worker etc, make sure you write that down too in case they need to provide evidence.
If you don't feel comfortable talking to your direct boss/superior, consider talking to someone in a HR department, office manager, or your supervisor's boss.
It must be said and action should be taken. Harrassment is a serious workplace issue and is taken very seriously in countries like Australia where there are laws etc to protect people in your situation.
The best thing you can do is tell someone so this can stop.
A
female
reader, Bev Conolly  +, writes (19 June 2006):
 Keep a diary of the incident(s), writing down what happened, when it happened and where, and if there were any witnesses. Record what was said to you and what your reply was.
You may need to show the evidence to your supervisor if the person denies the harassment.
I'd go straight to your immediate boss and report what occurred, saying that you felt harassed and you want it stopped. Most Western nations (US, UK, Australia etc) have national workplace policies that require management to stop harassment as soon as it's reported. Incidentally, there's no dictionary definition of what constitutes "harassment" in the workplace: if you don't like it, and it doesn't stop, then you're being harassed. So don't be shy about reporting it.
Good luck.
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A
female
reader, Wendyg  +, writes (19 June 2006):
 If you are pretty sure that you are being harrased, then you need to go to a manager and report this. Even if its not taken any futher at that point someone needs to know that this is happening. If you have a HR department go to them, you can speak off the record and its totally confidential and is only acted on if you want it to be. If you dont have a HR department, speak to a manager, if its the manager that is the cause then you need to go higher and speak to his manager. It is all taken very seriously and is totally private, it will definately only be acted on if you want it to be. So for instance if your not entirely sure whats happening, talk it over with either HR or a manager to at least get it noted. Then if the problem persists you can then go back and make another complaint and take it further if you so wish, They can deal with these issues discretly and only as you proceed. Ie if they were to warn the guy they may in the first instance not need to say who reported him, so he would not know it was you, but at least it might stop him. Take a while to think about what you want to do and if you feel strongly enough report it, you shouldnt have to suffer in the workplace.
Take care x
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