Despite laws in place to combat it, sexual harassment remains prevalent in workplaces across the country. Unchecked sexual harassment can create a hostile work environment, sapping employees’ mental and emotional energy and hindering their performance.
Even for companies without a history of issues, participating in sexual harassment training can help keep workplaces free of toxic behavior and ensure workers feel informed and protected.
What Is Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Training?
Sexual harassment training is formal learning that helps employees recognize, prevent, and properly respond to sexual harassment in the workplace.
Some states, such as New York, require employers to provide some kind of sexual harassment training annually. Employers everywhere are incentivized to provide regular training, however, as companies are required to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace under federal law.
Why Is Sexual Harassment Training Important?
Sexual harassment training can help employers provide a safe and welcoming environment for workers and ensure that new hires understand and act in accordance with the company’s culture.
Taking action to prevent sexual harassment can help an employer avoid legal claims from employees, which can be costly—both financially and for the company’s reputation. Failing to address workplace sexual harassment can lead to high employee turnover, legal penalties, and other consequences that can jeopardize a company’s long-term future.
What is the Goal of Sexual Harassment Training?
The main goal of workplace sexual harassment training is to help employees understand and recognize unacceptable behavior. Sexual harassment can often be subtle, coming in the form of offhand comments, offensive jokes, obscene gestures, or unwanted touching, all of which can be infrequent enough for others not to notice.
Effective training will give all workers the knowledge and tools they need to identify, avoid, and properly report sexual harassment in the workplace.
What Is Covered During Sexual Harassment Training?
Employees will learn the legal definition of sexual harassment—unwanted or offensive behavior of a sexual nature or based on one’s gender. Sexual harassment can include discriminatory behavior centered on an employee’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy status.
The training also helps workers identify the following two types of sexual harassment:
- Quid pro quo sexual harassment involves a situation where a person in a position of power coerces an employee into agreeing to sexual favors by promising or implying preferential treatment if they accept—or retaliation if they refuse.
- A Hostile work environment involves a situation where unwelcome or offensive conduct is severe or pervasive enough to make the workplace toxic for an employee.
Employees will also learn actionable steps to prevent and report sexual harassment when they encounter it, such as speaking up, taking notes on incidents, and where to bring complaints.
Who is Required to Participate in Sexual Harassment Training?
Seven states and the District of Columbia legally require some form of sexual harassment training. Training is mandatory in the following:
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Illinois
- Maine
- New York
- Washington
Effective workplace sexual harassment training requires both employees and managers to participate. Leadership sets the tone for how the workplace views and responds to sexual harassment. It’s crucial for managers and supervisors to be able to spot and quickly handle any improper behavior, as well as to understand the power dynamic between them and their employees to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
What Makes a Sexual Harassment Training Course Effective?
Sexual harassment training can be online or in-person, through video or a presentation, as a team activity, or through a self-guided program. Including an interactive element can make any format effective at engaging employees and ensuring they properly absorb the information.
Some sexual harassment training programs are less effective because they focus on specific, egregious behaviors or only focus on the behavior of men, making some feel targeted or talked down to about information they feel is obvious. Emphasizing a diverse range of examples and situations can help everyone understand that sexual harassment can come from anywhere and not always in the form one might expect.
To make training more effective, an employer should consider pairing it with a sustained effort to educate workers about sexual harassment. Conducting sexual harassment training without a continued focus on awareness and prevention could signal to employees that the company isn’t serious about the issue and could encourage them not to take it seriously, either.
Contact Joseph & Norinsberg For Your Employment Law Cases
Our firm’s highly skilled employment lawyers have more than 75 years of combined experience fighting and winning for workers. Whether you’re experiencing sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, or any other violation of your rights, we have the knowledge and skills to hold your employer accountable and get you the justice you deserve.
Contact us online or call 212-227-5700 for a free consultation.
