Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: What Employers Need to Know for 2023

While no employer wants to be accused of harassment, all employers need to be armed with the knowledge of how to proceed should they find themselves in the position of having to defend themselves against a harassment charge.  Employers must ensure they are properly prepared at the outset of an investigation to conduct effective and legally-compliant investigations into the harassment.

Employers first need to understand exactly what harassment is: unwelcome conduct from a boss, coworker, group of coworkers, vendor, or customer whose actions, communication, or behavior mocks, demeans, puts down, disparages, or ridicules an employee. Physical assaults, threats, and intimidation are severe forms of harassment and bullying.  Harassment may also include offensive jokes, name-calling, offensive nicknames, pornographic images on a laptop, and offensive pictures or objects. Interfering with an employee’s ability to do his or her work also is considered a form of harassment. 

Employees can also experience harassment when they are not the target of the harasser because of the negative work environment that can develop because of the harassment.  This is referred to as a hostile work environment.  Additionally, workplace harassment can result in claims of discrimination and retaliation.

Employers often overlook the importance of promptly investigating complaints of harassment and taking quick and appropriate corrective action.  Since an employer’s prompt and effective response to complaints can limit or eliminate its liability in a discrimination, harassment, or retaliation lawsuit, it is imperative that employers implement an effective mechanism to investigate and resolve workplace complaints.

Key Areas:

·         Definition of sexual harassment

·         What constitutes harassment in the workplace?

·         What harassment is NOT

·         Laws violated by harassment

·         Employer/Employee responsibilities in preventing harassment

·         Harassment prevention strategies

·         Creating a harassment-free workplace

·         Avoiding the legal landmines surrounding investigations

·         Laws that influence investigations

·         Making the decision to investigate

·         Reviewing the complaint

·         Gathering evidence

·         Creating a successful roadmap to the investigation

·         Understanding the perspectives of the Complainant and the Accused

·         Conducting effective interviews

·         Determining Witness credibility

·         Creating a perception of fairness

·         Developing documentation that will stand-up in a lawsuit

·         Determining corrective actions

·         Effectively handling the impact on employees: Addressing the rumors & questions in the aftermath of an investigation

·         Taking appropriate action once a determination has been made

·         Handling post-investigations issues

·         Communicating investigation results with sensitivity and fairness

·         Writing a court-ready final report

·         Do’s & Don’ts of documenting employee performance

·         Performance management’s role in preventing and resolving harassment

·         What does retaliation involve?

·         Harassment & Discrimination are different than Retaliation

·         Addressing retaliation

·         Role of the EEOC in retaliation cases

·         Whistleblower protection/Sarbanes-Oxley Act

·         Minimizing the likelihood of retaliation violations

·         What constitutes a valid retaliation claim?

·         Elements of a retaliation claim

·         Adverse employment action and causation

·         Preventing retaliation and future workplace misconduct

·         What creates workplace conflict?

·         Major causes of conflict

·         Viewing conflict as an opportunity

·         Positive and negative outcomes of conflict

·         Ability to identify different types of conflicts

·         Conflict resolution styles

·         Steps to take to resolve conflict

·         Defining discrimination

·         Characteristics of Discrimination

·         Laws providing protection from Discrimination

·         What is a hostile work environment?

·         Legal requirements for a hostile work environment

·         Identifying hostile work environments

·         Handling hostile work environment situations

Why Should You Attend:  From fact-finding to conducting interviews and writing reports, participants will gain the knowledge needed to recognize harassment in their workplace and confidently and effectively conduct investigations.  

Who Will Benefit:

·         Senior Leadership

·         Human Resource Directors, Managers & Representatives

·         Operations Professionals

·         Managers & Supervisors

·         Employees