Do you know how to deal with
harassment and discrimination
at work? Armed with a digital
video camera, two Bay Area
high school seniors interview
young people at work, on the
street and at school about
tackling workplace harassment
and discrimination. Kendra
and Danielle created this
short video as part of a
month-long i
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Do you know how to deal with
harassment and discrimination
at work? Armed with a digital
video camera, two Bay Area
high school seniors interview
young people at work, on the
street and at school about
tackling workplace harassment
and discrimination. Kendra
and Danielle created this
short video as part of a
month-long internship with the
EEOC's Youth@Work Initiative,
a campaign to ensure positive
first work experiences for
teens. (Special thanks to
Jackie Alarcon and her Peer
Resources classes at
Galileo)Note from EEOC-San
Francisco District: a
captioned version of the video
is on its way... until then
here is the transcript of the
video:'How many of you have
witnessed sexual harassment on
the job?''Sometimes people go
too far too, and when you go
too far, we'll tell them, you
know, like, 'don't say
that.'''It was
sexist.''...remind you: at the
store, the customer's always
right.'[screen title] What
would you do?[voice over]
Every year, millions of
teenagers enter the workforce.
Some are just looking for a
summer job, some are saving up
for a car, and others need
money to support their family.
But it can be hard to know
what to expect from a first
job, and sometimes teens have
trouble standing up for their
rights. As part of the
Youth@Work campaign at the
EEOC, we went out to talk to
teen workers about workplace
harassment and discrimination.
[screen title] How would you
respond to harassment or
discrimination at
work?'Probably just, uh,
probably just keep it to
myself for a while, until I
found out if it was serious.'
'If it was to an extent where
I was bothered by it, I think
I'd have to confront
them.''Like, probably, like,
complain to a
superior.''Probably first
bring it up to my boss if it
was like a coworker. Um...I
don't know what I would do if
it was my boss harassing me. I
mean, I guess threaten to
quit.''I'd talk to my
manager...whoever's in
charge.'[voice over] We found
that a lot of young workers
know when their rights have
been violated, and they know
they should do something about
it. But if that's the case,
then why has workplace
harassment and discrimination
become such a prevalent issue
for teens. [screen title]
Where would you turn if your
boss didn't take action?'If it
continued from there, I don't
know where I'd turn.''I'd get
a lawyer or something.''Uh...I
don't know, yeah.''I don't
know. I don't really know
where I would go.'[voice over]
That's the problem. Teenagers
don't know where to go if top
management doesn't help them.
It's hard to stand up for your
rights if you don't know how
to back them up. That's what
the EEOC's for: to enforce our
basic rights. The Equal
Employment Opportunity
Commission is a federal agency
that fights harassment and
enforces equal rights. It
investigates complaints based
on color, race, disability,
religion, national origin,
sex, and age over 40. if any
of these laws has been
violated, the EEOC takes
action. But the EEOC can't
effectively do its job if
young workers don't know it
exists. [screen title] Have
your ever heard of the
EEOC?'The what?'-The
EEOC'[laughing] Oh I thought
you said the OC. Um,
no.''No.''No.''Is that... No,
wait what is? No, I've never
heard of the EEOC.''It sounds
familiar but I don't know
specifically.''Um,
no.''No.'[screen title] Let's
change that.[screen title]
EEOC 1 (800) 669-4000
youth.eeocTTY 1(800) 669-6820

Category Comedy

Tags EEOC, youth@work