Dive Brief:
- One-third of U.S. court employees say they’ve experienced inappropriate behavior or actions at work, according to a workplace conduct report released Monday by the Federal Judicial Center for the Workplace Conduct Working Group, a group of judges and court leaders.
- Inappropriate behaviors or actions can include offensive jokes or comments and be subject to corrective action but are not considered wrongful conduct, such as retaliation or employment discrimination, the report explained.
- Of the 13,895 workers surveyed, 8.3% reported experiencing discriminatory harassment, employment discrimination or abusive conduct, and 2.1% said they’ve experienced some form of retaliation. Incidences of wrongful conduct were most often committed by managers or supervisors (excluding judges and unit executives).
Dive Insight:
When wrongful conduct occurs, there’s a reluctance among workers to report it, the report found. Of those surveyed, 42% said workers are willing or very willing to report wrongful conduct, and 65% said their workplace encourages employees to report.
Most of those surveyed said they did not turn to an Employment Dispute Resolution Plan procedure after they experienced wrongful conduct. Those who did use an EDR option were more likely to be dissatisfied than satisfied with the outcome, per the report.
“These results tell me and my colleagues on the Working Group that we have done a lot, but we have more work to do to address the reluctance of employees to seek help or report wrongful conduct. And that work begins immediately, with a new set of recommendations for the Judicial Conference to consider,” Judge Robert Conrad, Jr., director of the administrative office of the U.S. Courts, said in a statement.
The report outlined nine recommendations to improve workplace conduct, including continuing to add workplace conduct training in orientation programs; distinguishing during training programs the differences between inappropriate behaviors and abusive conduct; and enhancing training for EDR coordinators.