Effective training enables your organization to comply with all legal requirements, thereby avoiding costly lawsuits, audits, and fines.
Discrimination
Because the affirmative defense for sexual harassment has been extended to other forms of discrimination, it is important to provide more specific and varied training on discrimination. The regulations that apply include:
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Civil Rights Act Title VII
- Executive Order 11246
- Immigration Reform and Control Act
- Jury System Improvement Act of 1978
- National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
- Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act)
- Older Workers Benefits Protection Act
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
- Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Act of 1974 (VEVRA)
Unlimited employee HR training—one low cost—no setup, no software to install. Find out why the Software & Information Industry Association voted TrainingToday® the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Go here for more information or to sign up.
Discrimination is covered by federal law, state law, and company policy. Key activities most vulnerable to charges of discrimination are hiring, promotion and performance review, dismissal, time off, compensation and benefits, and workplace atmosphere. The following list includes categories that cannot be used as a basis for decision making. If they are, your action is discriminatory and you may be subject to lawsuit. Your discrimination training program should cover each of these categories:
Age. People over the age of 40 cannot be dismissed or turned down for jobs because of age. There must be a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for laying off an older worker. Unless an employer can prove that benefits for older workers cost more, employees must receive equal benefits, regardless of age.
Disability. Disability refers to a substantially limiting past or present physical or mental condition. It also refers to someone who is regarded as having a disability or having a record of such disability. Employers must make facilities accessible to the disabled and must give equal treatment and consideration to qualified disabled applicants and employees. Employers must make reasonable accommodations for them when requested if it doesn’t impose an undue hardship.
Gender. Men and women must be paid equally for work requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility and is performed under similar working conditions. Women are also entitled to equal opportunity. In addition, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions are not valid reasons to fire, force a leave, or refuse a job or promotion. Pregnancy must be treated like any other temporary disability in terms of job rights, leaves, benefits, etc. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and submission to sexual demands as a condition for employment decisions are considered sexual harassment and are prohibited. Employees are entitled to freedom from intimidation; an environment that a reasonable person would consider hostile is also prohibited as sexual harassment.
Legal activities, memberships, or rights that may be offensive to the company. Employees have the right to present authorities with grievances about unfair labor practices, workplace safety, or illegal company activities without fear of retaliation. Employees have the right to participate in union activities and to perform jury duty.
Military service. You cannot base employment decisions on past, present, or future active or reserve military service. Employees’ jobs and benefits must be protected during military service or reserve training.
National origin or citizenship status. Placement decisions cannot be based on ancestry, accent, or appearance. You cannot require employees to speak English exclusively, unless it is a business necessity.
Race. It is unlawful to refuse to hire or discharge an employee or take action affecting an employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the employee’s race. Employers are prohibited from basing employment decisions on stereotypes or assumptions about abilities, traits, or performance of individuals of certain races.
Religion. It is unlawful to discharge or otherwise discriminate against or harass an employee or applicant for employment because of the individual’s religion. In addition, an employer must provide reasonable accommodation for an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless it would cause the employer an undue hardship.
No time to prepare or deliver training? With BLR’s TrainingToday, your employees can start taking essential training courses the same day you sign up. Workers (and supervisors) train at their convenience, 24/7. We track and you save with this turnkey solution. Yes, it really can be this simple. Learn more.
Safety
Safety training and enforcement have become an increasingly important part of every supervisor’s job. Safety training is mandatory for any company, regardless of its goals, because of the many laws and regulations governing workplace safety that have been issued by federal and state governments in recent years. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards that require training are numerous. They include:
- Asbestos
- Employee Exposure and Medical Records
- Hazard Communication
- HAZWOPER
- Lead
- Personal Protective Equipment—General PPE
- Respirator Training
- Process Safety
- Emergency Plan
- Fire Hazards
- Hearing Protectors
- Processes and Operations
Do you need training content on safety, ethics, sexual harassment, the FMLA, the ADA, and more?
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
- Easy to start up and track trainee progress
- 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 (PowerPoint, 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
Here are just some of the many courses available at TrainingToday:
[Click here to download information on all courses and libraries.]
Over 75 HR and employment training courses covering such topics as Sexual Harassment, Diversity, and the ADA.
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!
Until now, training has been a real challenge—there’s such a load of extraneous planning, preparing, and tracking involved. But we’ve got good news—BLR’s editors have developed a unique new program that’s done all that work for you.
It’s called TrainingToday. This turnkey service requires no setup, no course development time, no software installation, and no new hardware. Your employees can self-register, and training can be taken anytime (24/7), anywhere there is a PC and an Internet connection. Courses take only about 30 minutes to complete.
TrainingToday automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. When the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has been trained on any subject, or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available to you, your boss, an inspector—even a plaintiff’s attorney.
Course certificates can be automatically generated from within the training center and are automatically retained for recordkeeping purposes.
Unlimited Training That Won’t Bust the Budget
Best of all, in these budget-crunching times, TrainingToday costs only a fraction of what you would pay for a learning management system (LMS). You always know exactly what training will cost, no matter how many programs you use or how many times you use them. There’s just one low annual fee—for unlimited training—calculated by the size of your workforce. Budget once and you’re done!
These are all motivational, actionable courses—for both employees and supervisors—in such key areas as sexual harassment, FMLA, diversity, communication, USERRA, recruiting, and many more. The courses are kept up to date to reflect federal and state regulatory changes and, what’s more, BLR adds new programs continually.
TrainingToday also includes a selection of safety courses—you decide whether you want just the HR courses, the safety courses, or both HR and safety.
If it sounds as if we’re excited about this new service, well, we are—and so is the Software & Information Industry Association, which just voted TrainingToday (formerly the Employee Training Center) the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Find out what all the buzz is about—sign up for a no-obligation trial to TrainingToday.