Employee Harassment Cases and the Role of a Recruiter

It is a common practice today to outsource jobs and hire third party recruiters to provide manpower. This practice is no longer limited to large corporations any more. Even smaller companies with 25 or lesser headcount use similar services. Irrespective of the size of the company cases of harassment and conflicts do occur among employees. It could be between your full-time employees and the temporary outsourced employees or any other combination depending upon our employment structure.

Instances of harassment are sometime higher when temporary employees are involved. This is mostly because of jealousy among employees based on salary differences or facilities. It could be also due to racial or religious disparities. In any case if the victim or harasser happens to be from a manpower outsourcing company then ultimately they get involved. The employing company may also prefer to clear the case swiftly there by asking the recruiter/outsourcer to handle the case. At the same time they can use their managers for more productive work.

This is what a good manager (either form the employing company or from the outsourcing company) should do for a proper addressing of the case.

1. Immediate Investigation: Not only the involved parties feel that you are taking the case seriously it will also same you a lot of money and hassles if the parties take the matter to court. So be prompt to initiate action.

2. Private interviews please: Pick some room where co-workers cannot eavesdrop and fuel the rumor mill. Make sure no one disturbs you with phone call or visits.

3. One party at a time: Interview one party at a time. This will give you a right account of both each party's story. Doing so will also reduce chances of further squabbling during joint interrogation. If the victim is in some way scared of the harasser then he might not speak openly in his presence.

4. Note every detail: If things get out of hand or if some other person need to be updated about the events then facts are always at hand. It's not ethical to bug the victim again and again for interrogations.

5. Consult Experts: In case of serious issues consult an expert. Do not attempt to suppress the matter within the company premises.

This writeup is based on my experience with some Manpower Outsourcing companies in India and inputs form some popular writers on Human Resource.

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