Business Law And “once you’ve got the policy out
there, you need to revisit it on a periodic basis,” Robertson adds. Anti-sexual harass- ment policies, like many other policies, often are included in an employee hand- book that “sits in a pile of paper. Employers have to be diligent.”
The right training Employers also have to be diligent
about providing proper training so that employees understand how to voice harass- ment claims and managers know how to respond to them, says Karen A. Doner, founding partner of Doner Law PLC in McLean. “Training is a smart investment
and not overly pricey,” Doner says. For example, the cost generally starts at $1,500 for her firm to conduct training. “Attendance by all levels of employees and management, including the president of the company, should be required,” she says. The participation of upper-level management “sends the message that the company takes these matters seriously.” Doner also recommends in-person training instead of conducting a class
online. “Online programs lack meaningful interaction and the ability to ask ques- tions or engage in discussion,” she says. “In-person training by a professional, with hypotheticals and a Q&A session are ideal.” Robertson also sees in-person training
as more successful because it allows for more than a “check-the-box” experience. Training that affects people’s behavior “requires everyone to step up, pay attention and participate.” Good training costs time and money,
but harassment, he notes, “has conse- quences. It’s tragic for victims” and harmful to the organizations. Bagby believes that the publicity
about sexual harassment cases has resulted in the issue being taken more seriously. “Right now, one thing that is making it
more effective is that people are seeing that powerful people are having their careers ruined,” he says.
Policy applies to all When considering anti-sexual harass-
ment policies, lawyers say, employers also must consider customers, clients and third-party vendors.
“If somebody who comes in to fill the
soda machine is harassing an employee, then the employer has the same obligation as if that person was an employee,” says Robertson. “At end of the day, if a third party
engaged in that conduct, then the employer is in a position to say to that per- son’s employer: ‘Do not send that person to our workplace. We need to meet. This causes me to reconsider whether you are the proper vendor.’” Robertson says he’s seen few examples
of employees harassing outside vendors, but the same rules apply. “That type of conduct is not conduct that has a place in the work- place, no matter who it is directed at.” Worries about sexual harassment
extend beyond the physical workspace into social media, Robertson says. Employers should encourage employees to report alleged incidents of harassment not only if they occur on the work site, but also if they occur on social media.
One company’s path Virginia’s largest industrial employer,
Huntington Ingalls Industries, has taken the anti-sexual harassment steps recom- mended by legal experts. The Newport News-based ship-
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builder has policies and procedures to address sexual harassment complaints, says William R. Ermatinger, the company’s executive vice president and chief human resources officer. HHI provides its own annual training
that walks employees through what they can do if they have complaints. And it has an outside hotline that employees can use anonymously. “If it happens, we take it seriously; we
will address it,” Ermatinger says. But more important than responding
to complaints, he says, is preventing them in the first place. That is accomplished by fostering a corporate culture that has zero tolerance for such behavior. “What is the tone at the top, the tone
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66 FEBRUARY 2018
in the middle, the tone on the ground? Employees listen with their eyes, not their ears. I can say, ‘Do the training, publish the poster.’ We do,” he says. “But more impor- tantly: What experiences are we creating in our workplace that formulate people’s beliefs? Is our behavior consistent with our core ethics?”
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