Incivility in the Workplace – the Gateway Drug to Harassment Claims

By:  Liz Rita

At ILG we have been monitoring an uptick in claims relating to political speech, in anticipation of this year’s Presidential Election.  Well, it is upon us!  The words of caution we shared with you three months ago about the rise in incivility over political speech (Political Discussions in the Workplace – Dos and Don’ts), apply today as never before.

But more than that, political incivility reflects a broader pattern being noted by SHRM and other workplace experts.  Basic rudeness at work is on the rise.  And it affects not only employee health, morale, and performance; but it is resulting in an increase in harassment and unlawful retaliation claims.

At the start of 2024, the Society of Human Resources Management began tracking civility indicators across the country.[i]  SHRM has been monitoring trends in the workplace as part of this initiative, and reports a significant uptick from Q1 to Q3 of this year.  Since the beginning of 2024, US workers report experiencing 190 million acts of incivility per day.  this reflects a 10.4% increase since SHRM issued its findings in Q1 of this year.

Political discussion is the #1 cause of incivility in the workplace for American workers, which has increased the closer we have come to the election.  In Q3, 27% more workers reported political speech as the primary driver of incivility, over those reporting this phenomenon in Q2.  But political speech is not the only form of incivility employees report.  Workers report that disagreements on social issues, generational gaps, racial or ethnic differences and the direction of U.S. Society are also occurring, and contributing to a rude and uncivil workplace.

What does this mean for employers?  As the list above suggests, disagreements relating to these topic areas may not stop at just offending each other.  Arguments about generational gaps can drive claims of age discrimination and harassment because of age.  Incivility about race and ethnicity can increase claims of race discrimination and harassment.  And arguments about social issues and the direction of US Society can raise issues of gender identity, immigration status, and sex-based harassment relating to issues like abortion and the fact of a woman candidate for President.  At ILG we have seen an increase in just these kinds of claims, which we attribute in significant part to the increasing incivility in our workplaces of today.

SHRM estimates the collective economic loss suffered by US businesses from reduced productivity and absenteeism, due to incivility, amounts to $2,168,249,033 per day.  This does not include the cost of increased claims, investigations and litigation over these disputes.  Clearly, incivility poses a problem that is not limited to employee wellbeing and morale.  The bottom line is suffering as well.

As SHRM puts it, “Civility is a business imperative.  A lack of civility in the workplace leads to lower job satisfaction, less innovation, higher likelihood to leave, and higher turnover.”  Here at ILG we have also seen that it leads to more claims, more CCRD and EEOC charges, and more litigation.  Incivility at work is a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.

What should an employer do?

We laid out some Dos and Don’ts relating to political speech in our previous newsletter article, referenced above.  In addition to this resource, SHRM has created additional tools for employers, which can be downloaded on their site.  They include:

  • The Q3 Civility Index (referenced above)
  • Political Conversations Playbook
  • Cards Against Incivility
  • 5 Steps to Encouraging Civil Conversations at Work

These references are free, timely and available to all employers as tools to combat this kind of behavior at work.

It is all our responsibility to return our workplaces to safe and civil environments, where controversial topics and differences result in respectful discussion – even productive disagreement – instead of argument and discord.  For employers, this responsibility is paramount.

For help/assistance with any workplace conflict, employment claim, or employee morale problem, please reach out to us.  We are happy to brainstorm your problem for free, and help you find a solution.

 

[i] This monitoring has been accomplished by surveys of US workers, which have  been weighted to reflect the broader US workforce.

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