DOL hosts a conversation about gender-based violence in the service industry

Washington — Female workers in the service industry face an elevated risk of gender-based violence and harassment, but “there’s a variety of means that can mitigate that,” OSHA administrator Doug Parker says.

“They all involve worker power,” Parker added, “and they all ideally involve real engagement and leadership from employers to do the right thing and make workplaces safer for everyone.”

Parker was part of panel that spoke Feb. 22 during a webinar on gender-based violence and harassment in the service industry – hosted by OSHA and the Department of Labor Women’s Bureau.

Together with other experts, Parker discussed how certain industry characteristics – including working alone or in isolated areas, handling cash, and having contact with the public – put women at higher risk of GBVH. The officials shared workplace-related strategies that address GBVH, highlighted in a White House national plan released in May. Components include:

• Shift workplace norms and practices to prevent gender-based violence and support employees affected by it.
• Build the capacity of employers, workplaces, unions and worker organizations to prevent and respond to GBVH.
• Increase awareness of – and access to – worker protections and policies to help survivors or those at risk of gender-based violence to keep their job and maintain their economic security.

“It’s also critical that employers have effective anti-discrimination policies that include multiple avenues for reporting,” said Kalpana Kotagal, commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “and that they act promptly and effectively to investigate complaints and take appropriate remedial measures when workers complain about harassment.”

Amie Ward, executive director of the advocacy organization Safe Bars, said hospitality workers need training on how to stop GBVH through active bystander, allyship and de-escalation strategies.

She added that these workers “bridge the gap between bystander intervention and hospitality” because the hospitality industry centers on ensuring customers are enjoying an experience.

Should a worker sense sexual aggression or other inappropriate behavior developing in a patron, Ward said: “It’s very easy for us to intervene with something as simple as, ‘How is your night going?’ ‘Are you OK?’

“And again, we are trying to empower the staff to be able to do it. We don’t want them to have to rely on their managers, their supervisors.”

EEOC research cited in the White House plan states that between 25% and 85% of women have experienced sexual harassment at work, yet most cases aren’t reported formally.

To Parker, survivors of GBVH “are suffering in silence because they fear they won’t be believed. They fear they’ll lose their job. They’re afraid if they say what has happened to them that it will have repercussions back in their home and they have limited legal access to legal and other supportive services.

“They just don’t know what to do. They are very vulnerable and feel very trapped in the situation.”