I wanted to take a pause and provide an assignment to check your pulse on the subject
Question:
I wanted to take a pause and provide an assignment to check your pulse on the subject of discrimination.
Wages, granting of leave, and similar benefits are a touchy subject. It's always been considered taboo to discuss your wages. No one likes talking about why they aren't at work unless they were to brag about the awesome trip they go on. And other issues like retirement or health benefits are often not talked about until someone is about to leave or it's open enrollment.
But often these issues get intertwined in a case where someone alleges workplace harassment or a hostile work environment. They are big topics and often employees associate a disparity is how benefits are dished out with discrimination. Mention the disparity and it appears someone is going to get offended and take it out on the employee who brought up the issue.
A topic of recent discussion at an EEOC led round tablewas the idea of micro-aggressions--a concept that covers anything other than big, overt, obvious acts by employers or coworkers that signal harassing behavior. It's obvious when someone bumps into you on the elevator and tried to intimidate you. it is not so obvious when someone just turns their back on you or takes longer to answer your emails than normal. I report to the boss that I think my female colleagues are abusing their leave. She says something to them. Suddenly, I am the last one invited to meetings. All of the donuts are gone before I get one. Everyone orders out for lunch and doesn't include me. Little annoying things . . . or are they a sign of something greater.
In no less than three hundred words provide your opinion as to whether micro-aggressions are truly an issue in the workplace or just the product of an over-sensitive employee. How should an employer treat these displays of minor aggression?
Provide at least two independent sources for your work.
Expert Answer:
Microaggressions in the workplace are indeed a significant issue that cannot be dismissed as merely the product of an oversensitive employee These sub... View the full answer
