There are some important steps that employers can take to help prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces. It is helpful for employers to be familiar with what those are and for employees to know how they are protected from sexual harassment in the workplace.
Steps to Take
Important steps toward creating a sexual harassment policy include:
- Create a clear and concise sexual harassment policy that defines what sexual harassment is and explicitly states that sexual harassment is not tolerated. The policy should also lay out the process for reporting and investigating complaints and explain the consequences of violating the policy.
- Train employees about sexual harassment including recommended annual sexual harassment training. The training should include examples of what is sexual harassment including examples of sexual harassment employees may not initially consider sexual harassment.
- Monitor the workplace by making it a regular practice to talk with employees about their workplace environment to ensure it remains harassment-free.
- Encourage employees to come forward when they have experienced sexual harassment by making it clear that any complaint by an employee will be kept confidential and that they will not be detrimentally impacted because they made a complaint.
- Take complaints seriously and investigate them by performing a thorough investigation. If the complaint is found to have any basis to it, it is important to immediately address the situation.
Employment law has many different components to it to help employers ensure they are in compliance and that employees are protected in their workplaces. It is helpful to be familiar with workplace protections against sexual harassment and how to keep workplaces free from the same.