In the People Business From the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Updated Harassment Policies – Part 2 H
arassment policies and practices deemed adequate in the past may no longer be enough. That is the reality of the current workplace. The question is: what should employers do from now on? The expert answers range from doubling down on previ- ously recommended procedures to stronger measures. Once you get to the point of needing to investigate a compliant, regardless of the outcome, you have failed. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Select Task Force on Harassment in 2016 released a report about sexual harassment in the workplace. Late in 2017, the EEOC formally responded to the recommendations of the Task Force by launching two new training programs. A strong training program is a critical piece of a holistic harass- ment prevention effort. In short, the programs are designed to stop improper behavior before it ever rises to the level of illegal harassment. These checklists to help employers create a respectful workplace were included in the report and training.
CHECKLIST 1:
Leadership and Accountability The fi rst step for creating a holistic ha-
rassment prevention program is for the leadership of an organization to establish a culture of respect in which harassment is not tolerated. Check the circle if the leadership of your organization has taken the following steps: Leadership has allocated suffi cient resources for a harassment prevention effort Leadership has allocated suffi cient staff time for a harassment prevention effort Leadership has assessed harassment risk factors and has taken steps to mini- mize those risks
Based on the commitment of leader- ship, check the circle if your organization has the following components in place: A harassment prevention policy that is easy-to-understand and that is regularly communicated to all employees A harassment reporting system that employees know about and is fully re- sourced and which accepts reports of harassment experienced and harassment observed Imposition of discipline that is prompt, consistent, and proportionate to
the severity of the harassment, if harass- ment is determined to have occurred Accountability for mid-level manag- ers and front-line supervisors to prevent and/or respond to workplace harass- ment Regular compliance trainings for all employees so they can recognize prohib- ited forms of conduct and know how to use the reporting system Regular compliance trainings for mid-level managers and front-line super- visors so they know how to prevent and/ or respond to workplace harassment Bonus points if you can check these
circles: The organization conducts climate
surveys on a regular basis to assess the ex- tent to which harassment is experienced as a problem in the workplace The organization has implemented metrics for harassment response and pre- vention in supervisory employees’ perfor- mance reviews The organization conducts work- place civility training and bystander inter- vention training The organization has partnered with researchers to evaluate the organization’s holistic workplace harassment preven- tion effort
CHECKLIST 2: An Anti-Harassment Policy An anti-harassment policy is a key com- ponent of a holistic harassment preven- tion effort. Check the circle below if your anti-harassment policy contains the fol- lowing elements: An unequivocal statement that ha- rassment based on any protected charac- teristic will not be tolerated An easy-to-understand description of prohibited conduct, including examples A description of a reporting system – available to employees who experience harassment as well as those who observe harassment -– that provides multiple ave- nues to report, in a manner easily accessi- ble to employees A statement that the reporting sys- tem will provide a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation A statement that the identity of an individual who submits a report, a witness who provides information regarding a
A reminder that these checklists are meant to be a useful tool in thinking about and taking steps to prevent harassment in the workplace, and responding to harassment when it occurs. It is also not meant to convey legal advice or to set forth legal requirements relating to harassment. Checking all of the boxes does not necessarily mean an employer is in legal compliance; conversely, the failure to check any particular box does not mean an employer is not in compliance.
22 March-April 2018 • AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING
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