Preventing Sexual Harassments in the Workplace

Since the redefinition of sexual harassment laws in the 1990’s, such cases continue to occur in many workplaces. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), around 16,000 complaints of sexual harassments are being brought to their offices every year. Aside from the usual “women by men” or “employee by superior” sexual harassment cases, there have been reports of harassments in various forms such as:

• Homosexual harassments

• Men by women harassments

• Employees by customers harassments (third party harassments)

As defined, sexual harassment is an unwanted sexual advance or dealing that creates a threatening, unpleasant and hateful work environment. Any other endeavor, which is sexual in nature, may be considered as a form of sexual harassment if it develops fear or discomfort to the subject.

Sexual harassment is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other associated federal and laws. Yet, because of the failure of many institutions to implement the provisions of these laws and the fear of some victims to pursue their cases, sexual harassment seems to be unstoppable.

If these immoral acts occur, the first thing to do is to report the incident to a superior whom the victim thinks will be bias in handling his or her complaint. superior fails to exercise his duty, it is then the right time to seek the advice of sexual harassment law attorneys for proper charges to be filed in court.

Preventive Measures

Majority of these cases happens because employers fail to understand their responsibilities in maintaining a harassment free environment for their workers. Not only these incidents result to reduced employee morale and productivity, it as well lead to filing of lawsuits. Thus, it is highly recommended for them to follow these tips to reduce its risk of occurrence.

• Implement a comprehensive company rule against sexual harassment – employers should include specific provisions on their employee manual that tackle the definition of sexual harassment and disciplinary actions for offenders and even anti-retaliation practices.

• Conduct sexual harassment awareness seminars – all employees should be well informed about their rights against sexual harassment and on how to make use of these rights.

• Train the company managers and supervisors on how to deal with sexual harassment complaints – in the state of California, companies with 50 or more employees are obliged to give their supervisors at least two hours of sexual harassment trainings.

• Oversee the workers’ activities – it is imperative for employers to have a close supervision of what is happening on the workplace. They should also maintain an open line communication among their workers.

• Act accordingly with complaints – cases of sexual harassments should be treated as grave offense and should be a cause of immediate investigation procedures. If an accused was proven culpable offense, it is just to punish him at once with the appropriate penalty such as employment termination.

 Preventing Sexual Harassments in the Workplace

Since the redefinition of sexual harassment laws in the 1990’s, such cases continue to occur in many workplaces. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), around 16,000 complaints of sexual harassments are being brought to their offices every year. Aside from the usual “women by men” or “employee by superior” sexual harassment cases, there have been reports of harassments in various forms such as:

• Homosexual harassments

• Men by women harassments

• Employees by customers harassments (third party harassments)

As defined, sexual harassment is an unwanted sexual advance or dealing that creates a threatening, unpleasant and hateful work environment. Any other endeavor, which is sexual in nature, may be considered as a form of sexual harassment if it develops fear or discomfort to the subject.

Sexual harassment is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other associated federal and laws. Yet, because of the failure of many institutions to implement the provisions of these laws and the fear of some victims to pursue their cases, sexual harassment seems to be unstoppable.

If these immoral acts occur, the first thing to do is to report the incident to a superior whom the victim thinks will be bias in handling his or her complaint. superior fails to exercise his duty, it is then the right time to seek the advice of sexual harassment law attorneys for proper charges to be filed in court.

Preventive Measures

Majority of these cases happens because employers fail to understand their responsibilities in maintaining a harassment free environment for their workers. Not only these incidents result to reduced employee morale and productivity, it as well lead to filing of lawsuits. Thus, it is highly recommended for them to follow these tips to reduce its risk of occurrence.

• Implement a comprehensive company rule against sexual harassment – employers should include specific provisions on their employee manual that tackle the definition of sexual harassment and disciplinary actions for offenders and even anti-retaliation practices.

• Conduct sexual harassment awareness seminars – all employees should be well informed about their rights against sexual harassment and on how to make use of these rights.

• Train the company managers and supervisors on how to deal with sexual harassment complaints – in the state of California, companies with 50 or more employees are obliged to give their supervisors at least two hours of sexual harassment trainings.

• Oversee the workers’ activities – it is imperative for employers to have a close supervision of what is happening on the workplace. They should also maintain an open line communication among their workers.

• Act accordingly with complaints – cases of sexual harassments should be treated as grave offense and should be a cause of immediate investigation procedures. If an accused was proven culpable offense, it is just to punish him at once with the appropriate penalty such as employment termination.