Harassment Prevention and Education
For Executives, Supervisors and Employees
Employees need accurate and practical information to identify, prevent, and report sexual harassment and other forms of workplace harassment. Employers will save time and reduce the costly expense of legal fees by reducing the number of harassment claims and the costs of investigating, litigating, and paying settlements to resolve harassment claims.
Recent court decisions, federal guidelines, and state laws make it essential for all employers to provide employees harassment prevention training. See, e.g. Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (U.S. Supreme Court), Gaines v. Bellino (New Jersey Supreme Court).
Organizations that provide such training may:
- Avoid punitive damages in employee lawsuits
- Assert a defense to harassment lawsuits
- Follow federal guidelines established by the EEOC
- Follow state laws and guidelines
Studies suggest anywhere between 40-70% of women and 10-20% of men have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2003, approximately 15,000 sexual harassment cases were brought to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the number is increasing each year. According to the EEOC, the number of sexual harassment complaints filed by men has more than tripled in recent years. Currently, approximately 11% of claims involve men filing against female supervisors.
A telephone poll conducted on 782 employees revealed:
- 31% of the female employees claimed to have been harassed at work
- 7% of the male employees claimed to have been harassed at work
- 62% of targets took no action
- 100% of women claimed the harasser was a man
- 59% of men claimed the harasser was a woman
- 41% of men claimed the harasser was another man
Of the women who had been harassed:
- 43% were harassed by a supervisor
- 27% were harassed by an employee senior to them
- 19% were harassed by a coworker at their level
- 8% were harassed by a junior employee
Training Profile
This interactive module tailored for either small- to mid-size group discussions and using MS PowerPoint, provides a review of harassment policies, methods for detecting and identifying threats of harassment or situations most likely to lead to harassment, and practical steps for addressing actual workplace harassment situations. This module will also address many of the common myths and misconceptions about harassment in order to focus the attention for the participants on the real nature of the problem. The topics are all geared towards stimulating meaningful discussions, and critical thinking.
Length: 2-4 Hours (Depending on clients needs.)
Harassment Prevention and Education - The Workplace Harassment Problem
Analyze the development and scope of workplace harassment
Defining, Identifying and Understanding Workplace Harassment
Myths vs. Facts – Separate the facts from the assumptions about workplace harassment
Review the major categories of workplace harassment
Who commits workplace harassment, and the scope of the problem
Legal Obligations to the Employer
Review the major areas of statutory and laws that may require employers to take action to prevent workplace harassment.
Preventing Workplace Harassment
- Dealing with emergencies
- Discuss the best management practices and implementing your organization’s own policy to reduce the risk of workplace harassment
- Documenting problems of potential workplace harassment
- Learn the warning signs and risk factors that can lead to harassment behavior
- Personal safety tips
- Planning ahead
- Special precautions for investigation workplace harassment
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