When Massachusetts residents experience sexual harassment at work, they may sometimes think there is nothing they can do about the situation. However, there are several steps people can take to let their employers know what is going on.

When people realize they are being sexually harassed, it is a good idea for them to speak to a supervisor. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that a supervisor may sometimes be able to help end the harassment. Some people may feel most comfortable talking to the person who oversees their work. If the person doing the sexual harassment works under a different supervisor, though, people might want to speak to this supervisor instead. In some situations, a person may want to speak to the co-worker committing sexual harassment before he or she goes to a supervisor.

Some companies have policies about sexual harassment. When this is the case, people should generally look over the policy and take all of the recommended steps. In some situations, people may worry that they will lose their job if they report sexual harassment. However, it is typically illegal for employers to retaliate against people who speak up about sexual harassment.

Sometimes individual states have policies about sexual harassment. According to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, companies in the state usually need to appoint staff members to deal with these complaints. Employees can typically find contact information for these people by looking through the business’ sexual harassment policy. Additionally, the state guidelines suggest that companies appoint both men and women to hear about instances of sexual harassment.