Ten Reasons to Provide Anti-Harassment Training to Your Employees
Providing anti-harassment training to employees is a key component of implementing an effective anti-harassment policy. Yet many small and medium sized employers fail to provide necessary anti-harassment training to their managers and staff. This is a mistake that could potentially expose a company to significant legal liabilities, even if the company has a written anti-harassment policy.
Anti-harassment training provides an employer with the following benefits:
Compliance with harassment prevention training requirements under some state and local laws.
Ensuring that employees, especially supervisors, understand the law of unlawful harassment and the employer's complaint / investigation mechanism for resolving any issues of potential unlawful harassment.
Avoiding costly legal liability, which can drain a company's resources and time.
Maximizing the time, energy, and resources of an employer's human resources department by minimizing the risk of unlawful harassment.
Avoiding the morale problems and employee turnover that unlawful harassment can cause in the workplace.
Avoiding the negative press and damage to an employer's reputation that could be caused by an unlawful harassment claim.
Avoiding the risk that a court might award punitive damages against an employer due to the failure to provide anti-harrasment training.
Demonstrating to federal and state human rights agencies that the employer is committed to providing a workplace free from unlawful harassment.
Preserving the potential availability of a "Faragher-Ellerth defense," which provides an employer with a limited defense to claims of unlawful harassment when the employer implements an effective anti-harassment policy and reporting procedure.
Ensuring that anti-harassment polices are current and incorporate any recent changes in the law, such as changes to protected categories.
Anti-harassment training should be provided at least every couple of years or any time there is a significant change in personnel, whether due to turnover or growth.
Please contact us at (201) 345-5412 or info@morealaw.com if you have questions about anti-harassment training or providing anti-harassment training for your business.