Importance Of Anti-Harassment Policy: 5 Perspectives At The Workplace

Anti-harassment is the behavior that ensures that the workplace is free of intimidation, hostility, or any other form of harassment. Employers must provide an initial, regular, and updated anti-harassment policy to their employees. They are required to update the training from time to time and encourage the employees to come forward if they feel that the policy has been violated.

More than one-third of women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. According to a 2017 poll done by CNBC, at least one in every five Americans has experienced sexual harassment at work, with women reporting occurrences at a higher rate than men (27% vs. 10%). 

They must ensure that when an employee complains of any harassment or discriminatory conduct, the policy will be strictly followed to the letter, and the complaint will be taken seriously. The policy must include training against such situations. This will create a positive and constructive work environment. 

Anti-harassment policies must be formulated by all companies, regardless of their size. It safeguards them as well as their employees. Without such a policy, companies may have to spend a lot of money defending cases against them, which leads to unnecessary waste of time. 

Listing Out the Importance of Anti-Harassment Policies

(i) Workplace safety improves: By causing stress at work, sexual harassment contributes to creating a hazardous workplace. Training can help to ease the worry and stress that something like this produces, creating a safe workplace atmosphere that nurtures excellence, efficiency, and profitability.

(ii) Workplace culture is strengthened: Training done through the policies strengthens organizational culture and encourages individuals through communicating an organization's policies, goals, and values to its varied members.

(iii) Increases reporting and empowers bystanders: When effective policies are put forth, previously unreported discrimination and harassment will come to light. Individuals are not the only ones educated about the expected and approved actions in the job; bystanders are also.

(iv) The danger of noncompliance is reduced: When the employees are uninformed and unaware of sexual harassment issues, the company faces a legal, financial, and professional risk that might be costly. By training provided through the anti-harassment policy, the employees are protected from the negative effects of these elements.

Harassment Policy

The organization is already ahead of the game if it has a harassment policy in place. For your workplace. It must include the following when doing so:

(i) Ensure that the policy contains all relevant requirements, such as an anti-retaliation policy statement.

(ii) All employees should be informed of the new harassment policy, and training should be scheduled for all employees.

(iii) Ensure that the policy includes a formal complaint process that all employees are familiar with so that they feel comfortable reporting any instances.

Sexual Harassment in a workplace is amongst the the primary problems of organizations and industries in this day and age. These affect not large corporations, small firms, and family-owned businesses. 

Simply having a harassment policy is insufficient. Although 90 percent of businesses have a sexual harassment policy in place, one out of every five businesses does not provide training to avoid instances. Effective training programs provided by skilled HR Training & Advisory are now a key component of the company, and strict laws have been established.

Qualified and experienced human resource department must provide effective and continuing training to address the increases in the frequency of harassment and discrimination accusations and accusations. This sort of training is beneficial for a variety of objectives, namely educating employees, lowering the risk of legal obligation, and guaranteeing compliance with legal requirements in the company. Regular and efficient sexual harassment prevention training done by qualified HR Services helps employers avoid legal penalties. HR compliance is ensured through training. Furthermore, the management can create a better organizational culture where everyone understands what is expected and what is not.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 law prohibits workplace discrimination, particularly sexual misconduct. The authority has created guidelines stating that companies must address harassment and discrimination on a frequent basis. The management should consider providing harassment training at least once a year in light of those standards and the current sexual harassment campaign in the mainstream media. The management must consider the following training choices.

(i) Create interactive live training for employees and direct supervisors.

(ii) Choose a trainer that has experience and expertise in giving informed and comprehensive harassment training.

(iii) To make training more relatable to your employees, make it less cookie-cutter and adapt it to the unique division or industry.

The Business and Employee Perspective

(i) Employees are safeguarded: The staff will feel more empowered, secure, safe, and at ease at work if the organization has a no-tolerance policy and training.

(ii) Training improves morale: As taboo as it may appear, sexual harassment must be confronted head-on. Employees feel more engaged, safe, and secure after receiving sexual harassment prevention training from a strong HR department.

(iii) Legal liability is avoided for businesses: Sexual harassment in the workplace can be considerably decreased by offering regular training. 

(iv) Productivity rises among employees: Employees feel more valued when they receive effective training from a reputable HR Training & Consultancy firm. This provides a more dedicated and committed staff, which ensures maximum performance.

(v) The desired outcome is achieved: Discipline and culture are instilled in trainees through training. Compliance with Human Resources will be ensured through standardized training given by expert Human Resource Services, leading to good employee behavior. 

When it comes to dealing with sexual harassment, it is critical to establish the organization as a zero-tolerance environment. The truth is that if the management wants to improve the company's culture, prevention is the most important component. To accomplish so, they must establish trust with the employees by adhering to the regulations and ensuring that no employee, regardless of status, is exempt from a full inquiry if a report is filed. Every employee will trust the managers and feel safe coming forward if they can establish safe and dependable procedures in the event that an employee reports sexual harassment.

Understanding the laws governing all forms of harassment is critical for any business, but adopting and adhering to a formal harassment policy demonstrates the organization's dedication to its employees and the culture of the firm. Sexual harrasment is amonghst the most unwanted and undesired workplace related problems that has many implications for both, the organization and its employees. Whether a small businesses or big corporations, modern companies must ensure that efficient human resource assistance is accessible to prevent sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Mandatory sexual harassment prevention training is quickly becoming one of HR Compliance's most important mandates.

Conclusion

Every organization must have an anti-harassment policy. The organization has to make sure to inform all its employees at all levels that anti-harassment training is of major importance in context of company policies and social responsibility. Hence, it has to be followed strictly. Employees must be made aware of the anti-harassment policy right from when they join the company and must be regularly informed about its provisions. All complaints and investigations are kept private, and information is only shared with those who need to know to the degree feasible. Information relating to a complaint or investigation must be kept in files within the HR department.