Home Business To Hug Or Not To Hug In The Office This Holiday Season

To Hug Or Not To Hug In The Office This Holiday Season

holiday

Imagine you are a manager in attendance at a company-sponsored holiday party and in the spirit of the holiday season you hug a number of co-workers of the opposite or same sex. You have worked with some of them for a long time and others are very new employees.

The following week a complaint regarding your conduct is made to the company’s human resources manager. What happens now regarding you, the complainant and the HR department? The true answer is it all depends–it depends on history, severity, context and perspective, and it depends on the type of action the company takes to respond to the complaint, the result of any investigation and the way you and the company react.

First, given all the recent media reports, it is important to recognize that while several more outlandish forms of touching–groping, pinching, patting or grabbing–are clearly inappropriate and can form the basis for a claim of sexual harassment, any form of unwanted or unwelcome contact could be seen as being inappropriate and therefore lead to an HR complaint. So here, while hugging may seem an innocuous social convention, especially at a party, it could still be unwanted or unwelcome contact and require it to be addressed by you and HR.

[vc_btn title=”Continue reading” style=”outline” color=”black” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.law.com%2Fdailybusinessreview%2Fsites%2Fdailybusinessreview%2F2017%2F12%2F13%2Fto-hug-or-not-to-hug-in-the-office-this-holiday-season%2F%3Fkw%3DTo%2520Hug%2520or%2520Not%2520to%2520Hug%2520in%2520the%2520Office%2520This%2520Holiday%2520Season|title:Continue%20reading|target:%20_blank|”][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” message_box_color=”black”]Daily Business Review, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com, Dec. 14, 2017[/vc_message]

Disclaimer

The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components


The Daily Business Review is the primary tool, information source and communication forum for South Florida lawyers and business professionals who routinely engage in deal making, client development and business negotiations. We provide legal, real estate and financial information for the top lawyers and business executives in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The Daily Business Review brings advertisers and readers together in print, in person and online.