What is a hostile work environment?

A hostile work environment is one in which there is discrimination and harassment of employees based on different reasons. A person can face hostility from co-workers or employers. However, there must be clear evidence to qualify a workplace as a hostile environment.

Since there are no specific laws for workplace hostility, harassment in the workplace must be severe, intentional, recurring and prevent an employee from working effectively. Reports provided by the victims and witness should be concrete enough to support their claims. However, victims may be forced to believe that failure to endure a hostile workplace might cause them to lose their jobs.