on February 5, 2016
Employers need to review their compliance with California’s sexual
harassment training requirements on a periodic basis. When doing so,
it is a good time to update policies and remind employees about the company’s
policies on a routine basis – not just when a complaint is made.
This
Friday’s Five provides reminders about sexual harassment training and dealing
with complaints in the workplace:
1. Employers with 50 or more employees must
provide sexual harassment training to all supervisors every two years.
Employers with 50 or more employees must provide at least two hours of
classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding
sexual harassment to all supervisory employees who are employed as of July 1,
2005, and to all new supervisory employees within six months of assuming a
supervisory position. From, all covered employers must provide sexual
harassment training and education to each supervisory employee once every two
years. In 2015, California requires that a portion of the training also
address “abusive conduct.”
2. It is recommended that employers provide
training to all employees.
All employees should be training about the company’s anti-harassment policy
and seriousness of violations of the sexual harassment policy. Rank and
file employees should be encouraged to report any harassment or inappropriate
conduct that they see occur in the workplace even though it may not be directed
at them. Encourage employees to help other employees to speak up and make
the company aware of inappropriate conduct so that the company can take
effective measures to stop the conduct.
3. Employers should have a compliant policy
and complaint procedure.
All employers should have an anti-harassment policy of their own developed
and distributed to all employees. In addition, employers are required to
distribute the pamphlet, Sexual Harassment Is Forbidden by Law (DFEH-185), to all employees. Employers should also
routinely discuss the sexual harassment policy with employees at meetings and
remind them of the complaint procedures and document these additional
steps. This additional training will show that the company is serious
about preventing harassment and took affirmative steps to protect its
employees.
4. Investigate all complaints.
Employers are liable for harassment when it knows or should have known that
harassment has occurred. Therefore, employers should take immediate and
appropriate action when they become aware of any potential harassment taking
place in their workplace.
An employer must take effective action to stop
any further harassment and to minimize any effects of the harassment. The
investigation should fully inform complainant of his/her rights. In
addition, the investigation must be immediate, thorough, objective and
complete.
All witnesses and anyone with information on the matter should
be interviewed. A final determination must be made and the results
communicated to the complainant, to the alleged harasser, and, as appropriate,
to all others who have a need to know.
If the investigation determines that harassment occurred, the company must
take prompt and effective remedial action. These steps would include
taking appropriate action against the harasser, and keep the complainant
informed of these steps. In addition, the employer must take steps to
prevent further harassment.
5. Protect employees who complain against
retaliation.
Employers must take steps to prevent retaliation against any employee who
complains about harassment. This even applies if the employer determines
that the complaint was unfounded, the fact that a complaint was made is a
protected activity.
Employers should remind the complainant of the
anti-retaliation policy and have the employee report any perceived retaliation
to the appropriate person in the company. In addition, the employer
should remind the person against who the complaint was made that there cannot
be any retaliation against the complainant.
The employer may consider
separating the two people involved in the situation to avoid any retaliation
claims.
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