Protecting Yourself and Your Workplace

The start of a new year is a good time to review and update your workplace policies to ensure that you are protecting your employees, your company and yourself from behavior that can damage your company’s reputation and productivity! Sexual harassment will continue to be a “hot” topic in 2018 because of heightened awareness due to the #MeToo social media movement to report and denounce sexual assault and harassment and the new Time’s Up initiative to fight systemic sexual harassment in workplaces nationwide.

Although local attorneys have yet to see an increase in complaints or lawsuits, according to an article in The Advocate on December 17, “it’s coming … All of those events [nationally-reported scandals] and the accompanying attention will lead to more sexual harassment complaints locally.”

There are many venues for providing sexual harassment training for your employees and the easiest may seem to be on-line or webinar training programs. However, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency responsible for investigating allegations of workplace harassment and discrimination, has stated that electronic training is not truly effective for educating employees and changing inappropriate behavior that leads to sexual harassment complaints.
Classroom in-person training on sexual harassment prevention, including procedures for reporting complaints, has proven over the years to be the most effective way to prevent inappropriate behavior but also is necessary for a company to have any legal defense should a sexual harassment allegation be reported to the EEOC.

Next Level Solutions and Team Real World have partnered to provide two presentations that will help you protect your workplace. The first presentation on January 16 is geared toward executives and management; the second presentation on January 31 is designed for front-line supervisors and employees. The registration fee includes a one-hour free consultation by a Human Resources professional (limit one offer per company) to help identify areas that should be addressed by your organization.

Attending a local seminar also provides the opportunity to build a working relationship with an experienced Human Resource professional who can help you update your employee handbook, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and procedures, as well as providing you with someone to conduct independent and objective investigations should your company face a sexual harassment complaint. Customized training programs are also available for your workplace.