The Impact of Harassment on Employees’ Job Performance: Mediating Role of Workplace Stress: A study of female teachers’ in Azad State of Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) Pakistan

Abstract

Harassment at workplace is a global concern but for the women belonging to less privileged region of Azad State of Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K), it is more than an issue because the working women of this region are the victims of the social biasness, cultural restriction, religious misconceptions and male dominance. Furthermore, majority of working women find it problematic to standup for themselves either due to the social stigma or having no awareness of their rights. This study will be helpful in understanding causes of various types of harassment faced by women at workplace and its adverse effect on their mental and physical health as well as on their job performance. It will further persuade working women to claim their rights and create awareness among them so that they could be prevented from exploitation.

This study examines the relationship between harassment and employees’ job performance while taking work place stress as a mediator.  The study was conducted in schools of AJ&K state. A questionnaire was used to collect the data from 376 respondents from 141 schools of AJ&K. Gender, age; qualification and job tenure were used as the demographic variables. The reliability of instrument is determined by Cronbach alpha values. The result of correlation analysis showed a strong negative significant relationship between harassment and employee performance. The result of regression analyses explained the variation caused by harassment on employees’ job performance.

The study revealed that incidents of harassment at workplace causes stress among female teachers which ultimately deteriorates their job performance and the loopholes in legal system, unavailability of swift remedies and lack of awareness of rights are the main factors that discourage the women to file complaint. There is need to overcome law implementation barriers.