Sexual Harassment: An Interactive Tool to Keep You Out of Trouble

A recent Daily Advisor explained the concept of “preventive law,” which, like preventive medicine, seeks to avoid workplace legal trouble before it happens.

There’s a lot of trouble to prevent. As the story noted, defending the average sexual harassment claim can cost $75,000 to $200,000 out-of-pocket, with additional costs for staff time spent on the case. That’s if you win! Lose the case and the price tag can spiral up to double the initial amount, or more.

No wonder preventive law attorneys so urgently recommend making a small up-front investment to preclude problems. Have your policies and procedures audited for legality, they say, ensure that your employee handbook is up to snuff, and most important, make sure that your employees and supervisors know and understand the employment laws that most affect them.

It’s to that end that we recently reviewed BLR’S program, Interactive CD Course: Sexual Harassment. We’ve seen a number of harassment training programs over the years, and many of them could put the most motivated trainee to sleep. This one is qualitatively different.

You can tell that right from the opening slide when the narrator notes that “OK, this is the kind of subject that invites wisecracking that may remind you of middle school.” It’s a tone you don’t often hear in “educational” programs, but one that builds instant rapport and brings a smile, both of which open the door to learner receptivity.

From there, the program progresses through 40 slides, stopping repeatedly for interactive features.

“Knowledge Laboratories” let the trainee see and hear examples of harassing behavior, while pop-quiz type questions get them guessing at whether what they see qualifies as harassment or not. A click later, they immediately learn if they were correct.

More formal “Knowledge Demonstration” quizzes test learning every few slides, and a flunking grade results in repeating the section or even the course. (Don’t ask us how we found that out!)

What are some of the key lessons?

–Definitions of the two forms of harassment: tangible employment actions and hostile work environment

–Examples of physical, verbal, and nonverbal harassment

–The fact that harassment is strictly in the eyes of the victim, and that whether the harasser knew his or her acts were objectionable is not relevant

–The understanding that the gender of the harasser or victim is irrelevant

–Negative effects of harassment on both the employer and the employee

–The fact that harassers need not even be employees of the organization in which harassment occurs, and that witnesses or bystanders when harassment happens can also fall under the law’s protection

–What behaviors constitute sexual harassment?

–What to do if you are harassed or witness harassment

Interactive CD Course: Sexual Harassment, in self-loading format, is available for a 30-day trial in your office with no obligation to purchase. Click the link below, and we’ll be happy to arrange it.

Avoid harassment lawsuits with BLR’s training program, Interactive CD Course: Sexual Harassment! Click here for more information or to try it FREE for 30 days!