Harassment Prevention Prescription? Train, Train, Train

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6. A superior blocks a promotion for a subordinate who has firmly stated that the superior’s sexual remarks were unwelcome.

This is another example of potential tangible employment action harassment. Of course, the superior can argue that he or she blocked the promotion for a good business reason, but that reason had better be well documented and beyond questioning. And there could still be a hostile environment.

7. The company’s policies on harassment state that co-workers can’t date.

This seems like a great, albeit draconian, solution to a potential problem, but most organizations find that it’s unworkable. It’s also difficult to police. The important thing is to train supervisors and managers about:

• The potential for a harassment if either party has any business power over the other.
• The potential for a retaliation claim if the parties break up.

8. As long as people don’t complain about my kidding and my pinching, I don’t have to worry.

Sometimes, employees will seem to be going along with inappropriate behavior, and it is true that behavior must be “unwelcome” to be harassment. Unfortunately, in court people who seemed to be accepting will tell the jury that they had to go along so they could feed their young children. That’s not going to end well for the company.

9. I’ve been sleeping with my assistant, but we both enjoy it—it’s not a boss thing, it’s a love thing.

Unfortunately for the company, most relationships eventually break up, and that means the employee, if he or she suffers a negative employment action, can always claim that it was retaliation for breaking up the relationship.

And there’s another problem with subordinate dating–co-workers will tend to believe that the subordinate is getting special treatment. That’s bad for morale and could also result in a lawsuit.

You know your managers could do a better job if they were trained, and now there’s a convenient and reasonable way to get it done—BLR’s Leadership Library at the online, 24/7, TrainingToday. Get More Information.

10. Only supervisors can harass subordinates.

Generally, only supervisors and managers can exercise the power to engage in tangible employment action harassment, but any co-worker can create a hostile environment.

11. Our receptionist is attractive, and the delivery people tend to tease a little, well, a lot, but they’re not employees, so there’s nothing I can do about them.

If you allow a hostile environment to continue, even if created by an outsider, you are condoning harassment, and that is not going to be good. Management must take action, talking to the outsiders, and if necessary, to their management.

How can you eliminate harassment and retaliation in your organization? As with most things HR, the key to success is training, training, and more training. But who has the budget and time to organize a full-blown training program?

Good news from BLR—now you can run your training program like a pro, with our new TrainingToday system.

TrainingToday is a leading provider of online education programs for employees and supervisors. Each course in our extensive library addresses a specific topic with engaging and interactive presentations, delivering practical advice and clear instructions that trainees will remember long after the training is complete.

Three Delivery Platforms

TrainingToday offers you the option of three delivery platforms to meet your organization’s needs:

Professional

• Unlimited training for your whole organization for one flat fee
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• Hundreds of courses available, from employment law compliance to sales excellence

Enterprise

The Enterprise includes all the features of the Professional Version plus:

• Track and report capability with built-in comprehensive Learning Management System
• Train with courses as they are, or make them truly your own with our customization options
• Upload your own content (power point, video, SCORM files, etc) to the LMS in addition to using our comprehensive training courses

SCORM

• Integrate content into your existing LMS
• Easy to tailor to your content, logo, presentation style, and corporate policies
• SCORM compliant to integrate with existing corporate learning systems

Despaired of ever getting your managers and supervisors trained? It isn’t easy to fit it in—schedule-wise or budget-wise—but now there’s BLR’s Leadership Training for Managers and Supervisors. Train all your people, at their convenience, 24/7, for one standard fee. Get More Information.

Here are just some of the many courses available at TrainingToday:
[Click here to download information on all courses and libraries.]

HR-Employment

Over 75 HR and employment training courses covering topics such as: Sexual Harassment, Diversity, and ADA.

Diversity

The Diversity library is an interactive training program with different modules for supervisors and employees. It features real-world scenarios and insightful commentary from a leading workplace expert and employment law attorney.

Preventing Sexual Harassment- National – NEW!