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Beyond Compliance: Are your sexual harassment prevention controls in place?
Risk management is not just looking at insurance rates or worker’s compensation statistics. It also includes proactive education and training, identifying expectations of behavior, and problem solving making use of policies that are understandable and effective. Even though a company has a written policy and does some type of training, it may not be enough to avoid legal liability.
The Supreme Court’s two-part test for liability consists of:
1) The employer must show that they took reasonable care to prevent and correct any sexual harassment behavior in the workplace.
2) The employer must show that the employee did not take advantage of any corrective or preventive opportunities provided by the employer. To meet the criteria, businesses need to create a culture that consistently addresses and reinforces values and also provides accessible avenues for reporting and resolution.
Here are ways that you can decrease your risk of sexual harassment in the workplace and provide evidence that your company is actively engaged in prevention and correction:
•Have an anti-sexual harassment policy and update it at least yearly. Distribute it to all employees, talk about it in staff meetings, and make it a part of employee orientation. Have employees sign that they understand the policy and have read and understand the policy. If you have employees who speak and read in other languages, make sure the translated policy is available to them.
•Conduct yearly prevention and education training that not only provides a description of behaviors and consequences, but allows participants to interact in activities, problem solve, role play and practice skills needed to express their concerns and avoid escalation.
•Provide choices to employees in how they want to report. Some companies have hotlines or a designated male and female person that is trained in being supportive and professional.
•Conduct yearly sexual harassment anonymous employee surveys with the current policy attached. What better way to gain feedback from your employees and get suggestions for improvement?
•Conduct specific educational sessions with managers and supervisors. They must understand their specific ethical and legal responsibility and be provided with the knowledge and tools to model respectful behavior, intervene quickly and prevent retaliation.
•Treat same sex reporting and male reporting the same as you would for a female employee.
•Reinforce the need to investigate and document any reports of sexual harassment or discrimination including the response to the complaint and any corrective action. Make sure that follow-up to reports is conducted to ensure that the outcome is satisfactory.
Companies and organizations that are actively engaged in a non tolerance policy of sexual harassment and discrimination not only create a foundation of limiting liability, but they model a value in their culture of respect for all employees.
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