In many companies, it is not acceptable to use profanity, lewd, racists, hateful, or any other provocative language in the workplace. This includes faxes, texts, and emails. Many people feel this has more to do with manners and the company censoring their workers than anything else. However, there is more behind this issue than Etiquette.
Some language can be so divisive, that lawsuits are brought up against the business for allowing it. For example, if a male co-worker is allowed to make sexually explicit jokes and/or comments, the women could become offended and feel uncomfortable. Therefore, they would be within their right to claim sexual harassment. Proper language is s a tough issue for most HR departments, as they have to try to monitor how employees speak.
The Swearing Dilemma
Swearing is one of the most problematic proper language issues of all. For most adults, using swear words on occasion is something that in just in their vernacular. However, if the company has customers or clients who come into the place of business, this can cause him or her to never return.
Women especially have reported to be uncomfortable around people who swear a lot. In some cases, companies have found lighthearted ways to deal with profanity. For example, a swear jar is a container where the person who used profanity has to deposit a designated dollar amount each time they are heard swearing. Then, at the end of the month, there is a method for winning the money like a raffle. For many HR departments, this tactic seems to work.
HR managers cannot always be babysitters of the employees. Therefore, the language policies tend to slack a bit with many companies. This is another reason this is a tough issues for HR to deal with, but at least having a policy against profanity and improper language is a start.
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