Smart Leaders Do These Things To Stop Sexual Harassment

Unlawful sexual harassment has long been a problem in the workplace. However, starting with the Bill Cosby allegations and exploding with the Harvey Weinstein story, this is now the most visible employment issue in corporate America. As a manager or leader in your company, it’s long past time you made sure you’ve done what’s necessary to protect your employees as well as your organization.

Today, while there are still an overwhelming number of victims too scared to speak out for a number of reasons, many victims of sexual harassment are less frightened to speak up. #MeToo has laid bare the painful reality of how prevalent sexual harassment is in the workplace. In turn—and in remarkable numbers—victims are calling out business leaders in many industries for alleged bad behavior and these leaders are stepping down in eye-popping numbers.

The resulting emotional turmoil, business disruption, and injury to personal reputations are causing significant damage to businesses, internally and externally, and to many individuals involved.

There are no federal regulations against sexual harassment, so states are doing it themselves

It is so bad that in March 2018, the State of New York passed bipartisan legislation forcing companies doing business there to adhere to much stricter sexual harassment prevention laws. The City of New York added over a dozen more regulations for businesses there to follow on top of the state laws. These laws are effective October 9, 2018.

This makes New York the fourth state in the country to pass mandated sexual harassment prevention training, joining California, Massachusetts and Maine. Maryland’s new law designed to prevent employers from asking employees to waive their future right to report sexual harassment is set to go into effect on October 1.

With the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements gaining momentum, how long do you think it will take other states to pass their own legislation?

The statistics are overwhelming

According to EEOC statistics, during fiscal year 2016, more than 13,000 administrative charges alleged sex-based harassment. As more victims find their courage to speak up and speak out, this issue will continue to dominate the news. Meanwhile, harassment complaints made within company human resource programs and to government agencies will continue to rise.

Your organization faces potentially devastating legal risks if you ignore sexual harassers at any level of your organization. Furthermore, if the actions turn out to be serial in nature, the damage to your company’s reputation can be beyond repair—especially if it is at the top of the organizational chart. In today’s climate, the wisest business practice demands you proactively flush out inappropriate behavior and end it swiftly and decisively.

What should you be doing about sexual harassment? Consider the following action steps:  

1. First off, review your current anti-harassment policy and audit the effectiveness of complaint reporting mechanisms and anti-retaliation precautions. Ask yourself:

• Does your policy meet current legal standards and recommended practices? For instance, in light of whistleblower laws, how does your policy address the confidentiality of internal investigations and their results? Does it provide guidance for handling complaints about off-duty sexual conduct, including conduct that took place years ago? Or, behavior that—while offensive—had no direct connection to the workplace or a current employee? Are you addressing “false reporting” appropriately?
• Does your policy truly encourage and empower employees to come forward without fear of reprisal? If your office has rumors or “open secrets” about inappropriate sexual conduct, you need to consider changing definitions of what constitutes inappropriate sexual harassment. In addition, add more reporting channels, beef up your investigation protocols, and clearly detail the range of remedial actions imposed for a violation.
• Does your organization hold employees accountable—especially at the executive level—for their bad behavior in a meaningful manner? If not, what changes must you make to the workplace’s culture to ensure this happens? Cultural change has to begin at the top. If leaders are not modeling appropriate behavior, how can you expect rank-and-file employees to do so?

 

2. Identify vulnerabilities by connecting historical and current complaint data. Can you identify trends by geographic location, business unit or job category? What has been the company’s approach to investigating and responding to those complaints? For instance, has your response stopped the inappropriate behavior? 

Or, has the employee gone outside the company for assistance, such as filing a charge with a government agency? If so, what has been the agency’s response? If your company were considering such a self-critical audit, I would advise evaluating the data on a privileged basis through your legal counsel.

 

3. Consider conducting an anonymous employee survey to determine whether unreported and still-festering harassment issues, rumors or open secrets negatively affect the company and pose continuing legal risks. Use a third-party administrator to ensure employees of the survey’s confidentiality.

 

4. Update your training programs to address the current situation in the #MeToo world we live in now. Companies cannot ignore the high-profile complaints and high-level terminations occurring in industries and government bodies across the country. Be thorough in scheduling additional training for all employees, at all levels in your company.

 

5. Finally, spend time on leadership buy-in before rolling out the updated policy. Conduct C-Suite, manager and supervisor meetings and “refresher” training so leaders know what to expect of them and the employees who report to them. Educate leaders regarding how best to promote a workplace culture free from harassment, and spell out for them the potential consequences—both to the company and to them individually—of failure to achieve such a culture.

As with implementing any workplace policy or procedure, it is advisable to consult with your employment counsel for assistance in addressing these important and evolving issues.