Sexual Harassment Actions…

Page Contents
Employer's checklist
Employee checklist
Observer's checklist

Employer Checklist

A recent Supreme Court ruling states that employers must exercise reasonable ." ..care to prevent or correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior." This means that if you don't have an effective policy in place, the time to adopt one is now.

Research.
Find out what your legal responsibilities are and compare them to your current policy. If you don't have an anti-harassment policy, make it a priority.

Compare.
Compare your policy to those of other businesses; what improvements can you make?

Investigate.
If you're starting from scratch, note what you like and dislike about other policies.

Interview.
Ask other business owners how effective their policy is; what's worked and what hasn't?

Adopt.
Create an anti-harsssment policy for your company or revise your existing policy to reflect recent court rulings.

Announce.
Make a company-wide announcement about the new anti-harassment policy, or major changes to your existing policy.

Disseminate.
Provide employees with copies of the policy, via email or office memo. Post the policy in public areas.

Educate.
Hold meetings or organize seminars to educate employees about the policy. Describe acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

Encourage.
Create a "zero tolerance" atmosphere by encouraging employees to report harassment that they experience or witness. Publicly recognize employees whose actions prevent or correct sexual harassment.

Monitor.
Carefully monitor compliance with the policy.

Enforce.
Respond to complaints immediately.

Page Contents
Employer's checklist
Employee checklist
Observer's checklist

Employee Checklist

Do not ignore, tolerate, laugh off or ignore sexual harassment. Harassers will continue to bother their victims as long as they think they can get away with it.

Notify.
Tell your harasser that his or her behavior is unwelcome and offensive. Be specific.

Refuse.
Clearly say "no" to requests for sexual favors and refuse sexual advances.

Write.
Write your harasser a letter that details the harassment (dates, places, times events) in objective terms, state your reaction to their behavior, then tell the person that you want the behavior to stop. Send it via registered mail.

Record.
Create a written record of the harassment; carefully document every incident, including the events, dates, times, witnesses, and your reaction. Save any communications. Keep copies at home.

Document.
Save anything that shows off the quality of your work; performance evaluations, memos, email correspondence, even voice mail. This will protect you if your harasser claims that their behavior was justified by your poor job performance.

Research.
Find out what your employer's policies are regarding sexual harassment, and be sure to carefully follow company guidelines and grievance procedures.

Inform.
Tell your supervisor and/or other employees that the harasser's behavior is offensive and unwelcome.

Investigate.
Ask around. Find out if any other employees have had similar experiences with the harasser. If they have, ask them to tell management. There is strength in numbers.

Report.
Once you've put the harasser on notice, report any further incidents to management.

Complain.
If management does not act to stop the harassment or if the harassment continues anyway, you may decide to file a complaint. If you do, contact the nearest Equal Employment Opportunity Office (EEOC) for information and help. This is the federal agency that investigates sexual harsssment claims. If your company has fewer than 15 employees, you may need to contact a state agency instead.

Page Contents
Top of Page
Employer's checklist
Employee checklist
Observer's checklist

Observer's Checklist

Act now to make yours a "zero tolerance" workplace.

React.
Help prevent, correct and eliminate sexual harassment in your workplace. If you are aware of or witness sexual harassment, report it promptly.

Research.
Become an expert on sexual harassment; review your company's policy and look into state and federal laws governing this issue.

Notify.
Tell the harasser that you are aware of the behavior and that it is totally unacceptable.

Encourage.
Urge the harasser to stop bothering the victim, permanently.

Report.
Inform the harasser that you will tell management if the behavior does not stop.

Help.
Encourage the victim to confront the harasser, detail the offensive behaviors and demand that the harasser stop immediately.

Support.
Be supportive of any victim; some people believe that they somehow caused the harassment; reassure them that it is not their fault.

Counsel.
If the harassment continues, counsel the victim to report it to management

Inform.
If you witnessed the harassment or the victim reported it to you, inform managment.

• What could the employee do?
• What should management do?
• What could can observer do?
• How much do you know about sexual harassment?
• What are the facts?
• What actions can you take?
• What do recent court rulings mean to me?