On Nov. 21, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) released a guide to help federal contractors in the construction industry reduce harassment in the workplace.

According to the OFCCP, harassment is one of the most common issues plaguing the construction industry, resulting in general safety, health, and economic impacts. As a result, the OFCCP wanted to provide guidance for workers who find themselves victims of harassment and guidelines for federal construction contractors and subcontractors.

The guide defines harassment as unwelcomed conduct based on a protected characteristic. Harassment is deemed illegal when it is frequent and severe enough to result in a worker facing termination or it creates a hostile or offensive work environment. And, any employee or third party can be a harasser. It is not limited to direct supervisors.

The guide includes examples of what constitutes harassment. Some of those examples are:

• Using racial slurs and/or nicknames.
• Making derogatory remarks about someone’s race or color-related physical features.
• Making sexual advances.
• Criticizing someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Mocking someone’s religion or religious practices.
• Teasing someone about their disability.
• Mistreating someone because of their veteran status.
• Engaging in behaviors that negatively impact the working conditions of a particular individual or group because of their protected characteristic(s).
• Making unwelcomed remarks related to a protected characteristic under the guise of a joke.
• Failing to maintain women’s restrooms to the same standards as men’s restrooms.

The guide also outlines steps that construction contractors should follow to reduce harassment in their workplace. These steps include regularly reminding employees that harassment is prohibited, training workers on how to prevent harassment in the workplace, and creating formal procedures to handle harassment complaints.

Combating harassment against women in the construction industry is a priority for the OFCCP following a 2023 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) report that found one in four women in construction have experienced sexual harassment. In addition, Executive Order 11246, which is enforced by the OFCCP, requires construction contractors to make good-faith efforts to meet participation goals for minorities and women by taking 16 affirmative action steps.

The OFCCP is not the only federal agency to issue a guide to curb harassment. The EEOC issued its own harassment prevention guide on June 18, 2024. For more information on how to best combat harassment in the workplace, additional resources can be found on the OFCCP’s website.