UCOR is committed to maintaining a work environment that is free from harassment. We will not tolerate harassing conduct that interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Harassment is unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origin, older age, disability, or genetic information, when:
- Enduring offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment.
- The conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.
- The conduct has the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Petty slights, annoyances, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious) will not rise to the level of harassment. To be considered harassment, the conduct must create a work environment that would be intimidating, hostile, or offensive to reasonable people.
Harassment can occur in person, in writing, by telephone (voice or text messaging), by fax, via the internet (e-mail or instant messaging), or through any other means of communication.
Sexual harassment consists of harassing conduct directed at a person because of his or her sex and/or gender identity. Sexual harassment also consists of unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other physical, verbal, or visual conduct of a sexual nature.
Sexual harassment may include, but is not limited to, explicit sexual propositions; sexual innuendo; suggestive comments; sexually oriented kidding or teasing; practical jokes; jokes about gender-specific traits; foul or obscene language or gestures; displays of foul or obscene electronic, printed, or visual material; and certain types of physical contact.
Examples of Harassment
- Verbal conduct such as derogatory or suggestive comments, statements about an individual’s body, slurs, unwanted comments, or jokes.
- Visual conduct such as the use of derogatory or suggestive posters, cartoons, drawings, gestures, literature, or other behavior intended or inferred to belittle, demean, or otherwise insult any person in the workplace.
- Physical conduct, such as assault; blocking normal movement; restraint; unwanted touching; or other physical interference with someone.
- Threats and demands to submit to certain non-work-related actions in order to keep or get a job, to avoid some other loss, or as a condition of job benefit, security, or promotion.
- Retaliation for reporting harassment, assisting another employee with reporting harassment, or having made a negative response to harassment.
- In certain circumstances, conduct that takes place off duty but impacts an employee’s employment.
How to report a case of harassment
All members of the workforce can seek information, advice, or assistance from management, a Human Resources (HR) Representative, or the Employee Concerns Program (ECP) on matters related to harassment.
Employees are encouraged to inform the harasser directly that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. Employees are also encouraged to report harassment to management, HR, or ECP as early as possible to prevent escalation.
Managers and supervisors are responsible for immediately reporting all allegations of harassment to HR for thorough investigation.
