Workplace Harassment Training Needed

Training on workplace harassment is a crucial but often overlooked element of organizational risk management. Hopefully you have an up-to-date harassment policy that was written with the help of an experienced employment lawyer. That’s Step 1. Step 2 is to provide training for your employees about the policy. In today’s world it’s not enough to merely distribute a policy on such a significant topic and collect read receipts. Training for ALL employees is a crucial step.

Common topics in harassment training could include:

• Why this issue matters to your organization

• What constitutes harassment

• Ways to respond if an employee experiences or witnesses harassment

• Who employees can report concerns to

• What constitutes retaliation

Additional elements when training supervisory staff:

• Potential costs to the organization if harassment or retaliation is allowed or ignored

• What to do (and not do) if a supervisor receives a report of alleged harassment

In addition to providing accurate, up-to-date information about harassment, training your employees can help maintain an open dialogue, provide opportunities to ask questions, and highlight the vital importance of appropriate responses to harassment related concerns. These trainings can also reveal simmering issues, allowing you to address them before they become serious headaches.

Whether you’ve had a long-standing harassment policy, or you recently instituted a new one, I recommend regular training on these topics. If you don’t have time to develop and deliver these trainings, I’d be happy to provide these services for you.

Holly Morreels, MS

Workplace Leadership Solutions

hollym@workleadconsult.com