11 Types of Workplace Harassment (And How to Stop Them)

What workplace harassment costs organizations

The EEOC recovered $664 million for employees who experienced harassment and discrimination in fiscal year 2023, according to EEOC reporting, a 30% increase from the prior year. That figure covers only cases that were formally reported and resolved. The actual cost, factoring in unreported incidents, lost productivity, and voluntary attrition, runs significantly higher.

Harassment takes eleven distinct forms, each with different legal implications, different workplace dynamics, and different prevention requirements. Organizations that rely on a single generic policy tend to address the most visible incidents and miss the rest.

The 11 types of workplace harassment

Each form below carries specific legal exposure, appears in particular workplace contexts, and responds to different prevention strategies.

1. Discriminatory harassment

Discriminatory harassment targets an employee based on a protected characteristic: race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, genetic information, or sexual orientation. It is the most common form of harassment under EEOC jurisdiction and the one most likely to produce legal liability when left unaddressed.

It can be explicit, such as a racial slur or derogatory comment, or cumulative, such as a pattern of exclusions and microaggressions that together create a hostile work environment. According to Keevee's 2025 workplace harassment research, 38% of Black employees report racial harassment at work and 46% of women in leadership report experiencing gender-based harassment.

How to stop it: Name specific protected characteristics and behaviors in your anti-harassment policy. Train managers to recognize patterns, not just isolated incidents. See how to identify exclusion in the workplace before it escalates to a formal complaint.

2. Personal harassment

Personal harassment, also called workplace bullying, targets an individual based on personal characteristics rather than a protected class. It includes ridicule, humiliation, persistent undermining criticism, and conduct that makes a person feel unsafe or unwelcome in their role.

Around 30% of employees experience workplace bullying in any given year. Because it often falls outside protected-class categories, it is harder to address through legal mechanisms, but its effect on retention and culture is equally significant.

How to stop it: Zero-tolerance language in a handbook is not a deterrent. Visible, consistent enforcement is. Employees observe how previous cases were handled more carefully than they read policy documents.

3. Physical harassment

Physical harassment involves unwanted physical contact, including touching, hitting, pushing, or any aggressive physical behavior that causes harm or discomfort. It is among the clearest forms of harassment to identify and among those most likely to carry criminal as well as civil liability.

How to stop it: Enforce strict physical safety policies and document every incident. When physical harassment involves a credible threat or a pattern of behavior, involve legal counsel and, where appropriate, law enforcement. HR alone is not the right function to handle physical threats.

4. Power harassment

Power harassment occurs when someone in authority uses that authority to intimidate, coerce, or demean a subordinate. Examples include unreasonable demands, public humiliation, exclusion from decisions, or threats of retaliation for noncompliance.

It is most common in environments where accountability flows only upward and subordinates have no safe channel to raise concerns about their manager. The absence of anonymous reporting infrastructure is a structural risk factor for this type of harassment.

How to stop it: Build upward feedback mechanisms into your culture systems. The conditions that generate honest feedback from direct reports are the same conditions that surface power harassment before it escalates.

5. Psychological harassment

Psychological harassment subjects employees to ongoing emotional distress through manipulation, excessive criticism, exclusion, or deliberate creation of a hostile atmosphere. Unlike physical harassment, it leaves no visible evidence, which makes it easier to deny and harder for HR to address.

The cumulative effect is significant. Psychological harassment is among the strongest predictors of voluntary attrition and declining team performance, not just the wellbeing of the individual being targeted.

How to stop it: Train managers to recognize sustained patterns and make clear that the absence of physical conduct does not exempt behavior from your policies. Create reporting mechanisms for atmosphere-level problems, not just discrete incidents.

6. Digital and online harassment

Digital harassment takes place through electronic channels: email, messaging apps, social media, video calls, and any digital medium used in or adjacent to work. Remote and hybrid arrangements have expanded the surface area for this type considerably. Studies show remote workers report a 30% increase in digital sexual harassment since the shift to distributed work.

How to stop it: Establish policies that explicitly cover digital conduct on company-owned platforms and on personal channels when targeting coworkers. The full guide on implementing a social media use policy covers the framework for this directly.

7. Retaliation harassment

Retaliation harassment occurs when an employee is targeted because they reported harassment, participated in an investigation, or supported a colleague who filed a complaint. It is the most frequently charged violation in EEOC complaints, appearing in every category of harassment claim filed in fiscal year 2024.

Retaliation does not have to be overt. A negative performance review, removal from a project, or social exclusion following a protected activity all constitute retaliation, regardless of whether that was the conscious intent.

How to stop it: Build post-complaint monitoring into your case management process. Review employment actions taken within 90 days of any protected activity and document that any adverse action was based on independent, pre-existing reasons.

8. Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. It covers both quid pro quo arrangements, where a benefit is conditioned on sexual compliance, and hostile environment harassment, where pervasive sexual conduct creates an offensive work atmosphere.

Roughly 81% of women who experience sexual harassment never report it, according to EEOC data. Fear of retaliation and distrust of the reporting process are the most common barriers. Research on message anonymity and employee reporting shows reporting rates are significantly higher when employees believe their identity will be genuinely protected.

9. Quid pro quo harassment

Quid pro quo harassment occurs when someone in authority conditions an employment benefit on an employee's submission to unwelcome sexual conduct. A single incident is legally sufficient to establish a quid pro quo claim. No pattern is required.

How to stop it: Train every person in a supervisory role on what quid pro quo harassment is and what legal exposure it creates for them and the organization. Make clear this applies to informal interactions, not just formal employment decisions.

10. Third-party harassment

Third-party harassment is directed at an employee by someone outside the organization: a client, customer, vendor, or contractor. Organizations are not legally protected from this form simply because the perpetrator is not an employee.

How to stop it: Communicate your anti-harassment standards to third parties who regularly interact with your employees. Give employees a clear process for reporting third-party incidents and respond with the same seriousness you would apply to an internal complaint.

11. Verbal harassment

Verbal harassment involves offensive language, insults, or derogatory comments directed at an individual. It can happen in person, by phone, or through electronic communication. It is among the most common and most normalized forms of harassment in many workplaces, producing large cumulative effects on psychological safety and retention.

How to stop it: Set consistent language standards in your policies and reinforce them through what leaders say and what they allow to go unchallenged in meetings and communications.

How to build a prevention strategy that covers all 11 types

Most prevention programs focus on two or three forms an organization is most legally concerned about. Addressing all eleven requires these elements working together:

• A policy that names specific behaviors. "Hostile work environment" without examples leaves managers uncertain where the line is. Be specific about what is and is not acceptable.
• Manager training beyond annual compliance modules. Managers need to recognize cumulative patterns, understand post-complaint supervision, and know when to escalate rather than resolve informally.
• A reporting channel employees trust. Organizations with formal anti-harassment policies see a 50% reduction in incidents, but only when employees have a credible way to report. A channel that requires identifying yourself to your manager is not a reporting channel for most harassment complaints.
• Consistent enforcement at every level. One case involving a senior leader that goes unaddressed tells the organization the policy is optional. Apply consequences consistently regardless of seniority.
• Post-incident monitoring. Follow up with the reporting employee at 30 and 60 days after an investigation concludes. Retaliation risk is highest in the period immediately after a complaint, when organizational attention has typically moved on.

For a structured process for handling incidents after they are reported, see the guide on conducting an effective workplace investigation. AllVoices is a leading employee relations platform that helps HR teams manage ER cases, workplace investigations, anonymous reporting, and employee feedback. See how AllVoices works for HR teams building a harassment prevention and investigation program that addresses all eleven types.