Harassment Complaint Letter

What Are Examples of Harassment at Work?

We all have bad days at work from time to time. A boss may shout during the meeting, or a colleague may make an arrogant joke about the way we laugh. Knowing exactly what harassment at a workplace looks like may shed a light.

Before filing a workplace harassment complaint letter, examples of real-life situations should be checked first. If you see similarities, most probably you have just identified a harassment.

Sexual Harassment Examples

• A boss or a colleague tries to touch you inappropriately;
• Your co-worker makes hints or comments on sex-related topics;
• A colleague sends her/his intimate photo to your working chat.

Disability Harassment Examples

• A disabled colleague is being excluded from corporate meetings or team-building activities;
• Some co-workers are constantly mocking a disabled colleague.
• Spreading inappropriate jokes about disabled people in work group chats.

Race, Skin, and Nationality Harassment Examples

• Making fun of someone’s accent;
• Making jokes about someone’s origins or skin color;
• Spreading inappropriate stereotypes about certain nationalities.

Sex, gender, or sexual orientation Examples

• Disrespectful comments about someone’s gender or sexual choices;
• Hateful speeches against sexual orientation;

What is the difference between a grievance letter and a harassment complaint letter?

At first sight, grievance letters and harassment complaints may appear similar. Both letters are sent by employees to report an issue to an employer or HR (human resources) department.
To draw the line, it would be easier to show two distinctive examples.

• Complaint A. Jessica has worked in the company for 5 years now. She found out that employees who work in a company for at least three years can have five extra days of paid leave. Jessica sends a letter to HR to request the same.
• Complaint B. Amanda works as a secretary in a small consulting firm. She has recently gotten pregnant. Her boss starts making annoying comments about her pregnancy. He no longer treats Amanda seriously, as he says she has a ‘pregnancy brain’ now. Amanda sends a letter to HR to add the problem.

The example with Complaint A is a classical grievance procedure. Jessica has a right to extra days of vacation, which she wants to enforce further.

Complaint B is an example of a harassment complaint letter. In a given example, this is discrimination based on pregnancy status.

What Behavior Does Not Qualify as Workplace Harassment?

There are a lot of articles explaining the nature of harassment complaint letters. Of course, there are lots of harassment complaint letter samples available online. At the same time, there is a lack of data about a behavior that cannot be qualified as “workplace harassment.”

Contractors, shareholders, and business partners

A complaint letter for workplace harassment could be filed when people work together. But should any cooperation together be considered as ‘work’ in that case? Imagine you and your partner launch a general partnership together. You have been working hard for some time to achieve good results. Later on, your business partner becomes rude and toxic, which makes cooperation difficult.

Internal relationships between founders, shareholders, or owners are not normal work. This is outside of the scope of normal employment or work relationships. Thus, they fall out from a workplace harassment agenda.

Freelance relations

To file a formal complaint, you have to experience harassment at the workplace. It implies that you have to be in employment relations with someone. But a freelance contract is not an employment contract. Thus, a freelancer cannot file a harassment at work complaint letter.

Daily situations

Not every silly joke told by a co-worker forms a ground for a complaint of harassment letter. Not all offensive words that make you feel uncomfortable mean harassment or discrimination.
A complaint letter for workplace harassment is needed only when:

• A behavior is discriminatory (e.g., based on sexual orientation or gender); and
• Such behavior creates a hostile work environment.

Workplace efficiency

Sometimes negative feedback or criticism in the workplace makes things too hard. This is so when someone, for instance, receives negative feedback for the last project. Not every criticism or negative appraisal should form a hostile work environment. Sometimes it is just a part of a working process, as well as an opportunity for professional growth.

What are types of workplace harassment?

When drafting a sample complaint letter of harassment in the workplace, the type of harassment matters. Depending on a type of discrimination:

• Age and social status (e.g., veteran, widow, or divorced);
• Disability;
• Sexual orientation, sex, or gender;
• Race, nationality, or citizenship;
• Religion, adherence to a certain political, religious, or social movement.

Depending on the type of inappropriate behavior:

• Sexual harassment;
• Verbal or oral harassment (e.g., inappropriate comments or jokes);
• Physical harassment;
• Non-verbal harassment (e.g., a person may file a complaint letter against mental harassment at the workplace as well).

How to write a formal harassment complaint letter?

One of the most popular questions is “How to write a harassment complaint letter?” It is an easy and challenging process at the same time. Though if you know the rules below, you can nail the process:

Be professional.

A good example of a harassment complaint letter is a letter written in a professional manner. Put aside all emotions and feelings you have at the moment. Presenting all facts and evidence in a clear and concise manner is key for a good formal complaint. Avoid threatening the sender or using inappropriate language. For instance, instead of saying “I will go to the court,” say “I will escalate it further.”

Prepare evidence.

Before making a complaint letter of harassment in the workplace, check your evidence. Without them, it would be harder to prove certain events or the involvement of certain people.
When the investigation process is initiated, evidence would be requested in any case. Thus, make sure you have them well in advance. Finally, not all evidence could be easy to find, and some of it can disappear. For example, most companies save their CCTV footage for 5-7 days only.

Know the Recipient

A harassment complaint letter to HR is usually used to report harassment from colleagues or managers. But if harassment comes from a company’s key figures, like the CEO, a process may differ. A company’s internal policies may require you to submit a complaint to other departments.

All in all, addressing your complaint to the right person is essential. This helps to resolve the issue faster and ensures better confidentiality.

Consider Confidentiality

An employee may hesitate to submit a formal complaint letter harassment. This is so because they may be afraid of enhanced publicity in that case. Most of the companies’ internal policies guarantee confidentiality of the investigation process.

You can include the request for confidentiality in the text of a letter as well. Do not file a harassment or hostile work environment complaint letter anonymously. Unfortunately, this is not possible, and here is why:

• To whom should a harassment complaint response letter be addressed? It makes further investigation practically impossible.
• A human resources department may need to ask extra questions to address the issue. This is where anonymity could be an obstacle.

What to Include in Your Harassment at Work Complaint Letter?

A complaint letter for workplace harassment should be written carefully. Do not forget to include the following elements:

Introduction part

In this part a sender has to state their name, job title, and how many years or months they work with a company. This is especially important for companies with hundreds of employees.
As an example of a harassment complaint letter’s introduction part, you can use the following wording: “I am writing to bring your awareness to the incidents of harassment at our workplace. My name is XX, and I have been working in this company for the last XX years in the position of XX.”

Describe Harassment, discrimination, or other inappropriate behavior

This is a main part of a complaint letter harassment. Here you describe the inappropriate behavior itself. It is better to include all details of incidents that took place. What has been said and by whom? Do not hesitate to include the names of all employees and their job titles involved in the situation.

To address the issue of discrimination in full, specify the type of discrimination (e.g., gender, race).

Dates, Times, and Locations

When you send a harassment complaint letter to your employer, make sure to include

• Dates/times when inappropriate events took place.
• Locations where the events took place (e.g., corridor, kitchen, etc.).

The better you retrieve events, the easier for a human resources department to investigate the problem.

Legal Part

There are no specific requirements for harassment complaint letter format. But it is a good practice to include references to the employer’s internal policies. Usually the said policies help to understand how to file a complaint and to whom. They also list employer’s responsibilities related to dealing with the complaint.

Extra Information

Attach supporting documentation along with a complaint of harassment letter. Supporting documents may include:

• photos or written evidence of harassment;
• extracts from private or business chats;
• other available written proofs.

Concluding remarks

A complaint letter harassment in the workplace should request to resolve the issue in a timely manner. It would also be a good thing to thank in advance the recipient’s time and involvement.

Get Your Harassment Complaint Letter Template at Faster Draft

To write a complaint letter, you may think of using ready-made solutions available on the Internet. Indeed, you can find hundreds of formal harassment complaint letter samples for free online. But, we would not recommend using them, and here is why:

• Free samples of documents may contain lots of mistakes, including legal ones.
• A free harassment complaint letter sample may not be up to date with the applicable laws. All this can make a document invalid partially or in whole.
• A free sample complaint letter for harassment may not be suitable for you. It may not reflect the real circumstances of your case.

Remember that writing a letter to report harassment has serious legal consequences. For both—a person who sends and a person who is being reported. Thus, having a solid legal document is a must. Drafting a complaint letter from scratch can be a daunting process. This is where Faster Draft can help you with. Follow a few simple steps to get your personalized sample harassment complaint letter:

• Click on a button “Create Document.”
• Answer questions in the questionnaire. Your answers help to tailor a document for your needs.
• Download your document in PDF or Word format.