Yesterday’s Advisor presented four sexual harassment scenarios. Today, we’ll look at two more, and introduce an efficient training tool that will help you eliminate harassment and other employee behavior challenges.
(Go here for the first four scenarios. The scenarios are from training programs in the BLR® Employee Training Center.)
Jake P Scares Penny R
Penny R’s job as receptionist for ABC Enterprises was “pretty cool,” she thought. She got to greet everyone when they came in and she enjoyed the daily visits from the various service people who came by. Except for Jake P, one of the computer consultants. Whenever he came in, he’d look her up and down and make some comment about her attractiveness. Then he’d come up to her counter and lean over and whisper some pretty rude line about what he’d like to do with her.
Once, Penny got up the courage to say to her boss that Jake was annoying her, but the boss laughed it off, saying, “Oh, Jake, he doesn’t mean any harm. And, besides, what can we do—Jake’s not an ABC employee.” Soon after, Jake’s attentions became more offensive, and he began to touch Penny. Suddenly she didn’t feel very safe in her isolated area. Among the many visitors to her reception desk were attorneys, and she had developed a friendly relationship with one of them. So she called him.
Was Penny subject to sexual harassment? Is ABC going to be liable?
It appears to be harassment or at least inappropriate. If the manager knew about the behavior—it appears he did—and didn’t act, that will be a problem.
What about the fact that Jake isn’t an employee?
That may make it harder to stop the behavior, but it doesn’t lessen the employer’s burden to do so.
Joan T Works the Bar
Bart L managed the operations of the three bars in the sprawling Downtown Hotel. At one bar, Joan T, one of the cocktail waitresses, was subjected to some pretty rowdy talk and some occasional drunken pinching and hugging from a few regulars at the bar. She complained to Bart, but he said, “Hey, it’s a bar. When they get a little tipsy, they get a little frisky, but you get great tips, and keeping the regulars happy is part of the territory.”
Joan complained again, to no avail. One night, the pinching and hugging started to be a bit more like groping, and Joan headed for the EEOC to file a complaint. The hotel manager called Bart in. “Why am I on the carpet?” Bart asked. “I didn’t do anything.” “That’s just it,” said the hotel manager. “You didn’t do anything. You should have.”
Yes, you do have the budget and time to train managers and supervisors with BLR’s 10-Minute HR Trainer. Try it at no cost or risk. Read more.
Was sexual harassment occurring at the bar?
It sure seems like it.
What about Bart’s “Hey, it’s a bar” theory?
Supervisors and managers have a duty to take action when they receive a complaint (or find out harassment in some other way). Inaction is seen as condoning the behavior. In this type of environment, there may well be a large gray area as far as a spicy comment here and there, but there is no gray area when it comes to intimate touching.
They say there are three keys to preventing sexual harassment: training, training, and training. Come to think of it, the same three keys apply to most manager and supervisor challenges. And training is especially critical for supervisors who are new to the job. They don’t know how to handle harassment, they don’t know how to handle basic tasks like hiring and firing, and that’s to say nothing of intermittent leave or accommodating a disability.
It’s not their fault—you didn’t hire them for their HR knowledge—and you can’t expect them to act appropriately right out of the box. But you can train them to do it.
Train your line managers with BLR’s 10-Minute HR Trainer. There won’t be time for classroom boredom. Try it for free.
To train effectively, you need a program that’s easy for you to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules. Also, if you’re like most companies in these tight budget days, you need a program that’s reasonable in cost.
We asked our editors what they recommend for training supervisors in a minimum amount of time with maximum effect. They came back with BLR’s unique 10-Minute HR Trainer.
As its name implies, it trains managers and supervisors in critical HR skills in as little as 10 minutes for each topic. 10-Minute HR Trainer offers these features:
- Trains in 50 key HR topics, including manager and supervisor responsibilities under all major employment laws and how to legally carry out managerial actions from hiring to termination. (See a complete list of topics, below.)
- Uses the same teaching sequence master teachers use. Every training unit includes an overview, bullet points on key lessons, a quiz, and a handout to reinforce the lesson later.
- Completely prewritten and self-contained. Each unit comes as a set of reproducible documents. Just make copies or turn them into overheads, and you’re done. (Take a look at a sample lesson, below.)
- Updated continually. As laws change, your training needs do as well. 10-Minute HR Trainer provides new lessons and updated information every 90 days, along with a monthly Training Forum newsletter, for as long as you are in the program.
- Works fast. Each session is so focused that there’s not a second’s waste of time. Your managers are in and out almost before they can look at the clock. Yet they remember small details even months later.
Evaluate It at No Cost for 30 Days
We’ve arranged to make 10-Minute HR Trainer available to our readers for a 30-day, in-office, no-cost trial. Review it at your own pace and try some lessons with your colleagues. If it’s not for you, return it at our expense. Click here and we’ll set you up with 10-Minute HR Trainer.
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