Even though it's the type of harassment that is most often reported, harassment in the workplace and in hiring isn't limited to sexual harassment. Other actions regarding religion, race, age, gender, or skin color, for example, can also be considered harassment if they interfere with an employee's success or conjure a hostile work environment.

Behaviors such as making racist or negative comments can be construed as workplace harassment.

Offensive gestures, drawings or clothing also constitutes harassment. Review these examples of non-sexual harassment and advice on what to do if you have been harassed at work or during a job interview.

Examples of Non-Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Instances of workplace harassment include discrimination such as:

• Making negative comments about an employee's personal religious beliefs, or trying to convert them to a certain religious ideology
• Using racist slang, phrases, or nicknames
• Making remarks about an individual's skin color or other ethnic traits
• Displaying racist drawings, or posters that might be offensive to a particular group
• Making offensive gestures
• Making offensive reference to an individual's mental or physical disability
• Sharing inappropriate images, videos, e-mails, letters, or notes in an offensive nature
• Offensively talking about negative racial, ethnic, or religious stereotypes
• Making derogatory age-related comments
• Wearing clothing that could be offensive to a particular ethnic group

Non-sexual harassment isn't limited to these examples. Non-sexual harassment includes any comment, action, or type of behavior that is threatening, insulting, intimidating or discriminatory and upsets the workplace environment.

When you're job searching, it's important to know that rules apply as to what employers can and cannot ask, related to some of the harassment examples listed above.

During an interview, employers should not be asking about your race, gender, religion, marital status, age, disabilities, ethnic background, country of origin, sexual preferences or age.

Read More:How to Handle Workplace Harassment Issues | How to File a Harassment Claim