Prevention training for sexual harassment in your workplace will create a safe culture for all employees. The reason behind sexual harassment prevention training in your workplace is to create a safe work environment for everyone.
Educating your employees helps them to understand what sexual harassment looks like, and makes them aware of when and how it can happen. When you make the small investment of providing the proper training, it will pay off for you and your employees.
How Your Leadership Should be Involved With Harassment Prevention
Company leaders should be providing good examples for their employees, and show them that everyone is on the same page. When leaders have the appropriate training, it will also make them able to identify acts of harassment and provide them with the tools to use in responding to such situations.
Your company should conduct standardized training for both supervisors and subordinates to make sure every worker understands the company policies. Your supervisors are most likely the first ones to hear about harassment complaints. They are in the position to have the most influence on other workers in your workplace, so they need proper training to understand how to respond and act on these complaints.
The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) advocates for frequent sexual harassment prevention training. One factor that is strongly encouraged is that companies have a committed, and engaged company leadership involved in this training and prevention. Your training program should include ways to prevent harassment, how to safely report harassment, and how complaints of harassment will be handled.
What is a Successful Harassment Prevention Policy?
Your harassment prevention policy needs to be clear that there will be zero tolerance for sexual harassment in the workplace and that there will be no retaliation to the employee who makes a good faith report of sexual harassment. The statement should be clear that zero-tolerance applies to every employee, client, and job applicant.
A successful harassment prevention policy also needs a clear description of all prohibited actions. The policy needs to encourage employees to report any unwelcome behaviors that are in violation and provide them with a system to report these actions.
Your harassment prevention policy should also outline how your company will respond to complaints through an investigation process. Your employees should also know that if they report harassment, they can have their identities kept confidential except for management employees on a need-to-know basis. The policy should also include the statement that any retaliation for someone reporting harassment by their employer is an unlawful act.
Benefits of Harassment Prevention Training
A harassment prevention training program in your company will make your employees feel better about their workplace. Having this program in place tells employees that your company cares about their welfare and safety. If you conduct the training correctly, employees will also feel like they are working as a team to make the company grow and succeed.
When a company provides harassment prevention training, it increases the feeling of safety for employees. This feeling of safety will contribute to better employees with more confidence in their work performance and improved relationships among the whole staff.
Where to Learn More About Sexual Harassment Prevention in the Workplace
Danz Law provides top-tier harassment and related training to companies throughout the state of Florida and across the country. Many states require this form of training, and it is expected more states will be adding the requirement soon. We are here for you to create a harassment prevention training program to ensure your policies on reporting, prohibiting, and investigating harassment and discrimination are followed.
The trend of filing claims for alleged harassment will continue to grow. Having a training program in your company is essential to protect your business against lawsuits. Call today and talk to our experts and learn how to reduce your liability and risk with a potential lawsuit for harassment or discrimination in your workplace.
