Why is a harassment policy important?
As common as it is, harassment in the workplace may damage a company’s image and cause the best employees to flee. In order to steer clear of this, it is essential to establish a plan to address harassment. In order to combat harassment, how can your company establish an anti-harassment policy? We’ll talk about some useful things you can do.
The purpose of an anti-harassment policy is to deal with and avoid hostile circumstances that damage employees’ dignity. It refers to unwanted verbal, nonverbal, or physical behavior toward an individual or a group, including but not limited to bullying, intimidation, degrading, or humiliation, whether it occurs once or often.
The policy ought to address all forms of harassment, including sexual, quid pro quo, age, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, racial/ethnic, national origin, handicap, and religion.
In what ways does an anti-harassment policy benefit your company?
The first line of protection against harassment in the workplace should be a formal policy against it. This shows that your company has zero tolerance for bullying, harassment, or other forms of bigotry.
Keeping and following an anti-harassment policy demonstrates to employees that you value their safety and well-being by creating a welcoming, supportive, cooperative, and productive workplace.
If an organization is serious about implementing anti-harassment policies, it will deal with unpleasant circumstances head-on to avoid further escalation and expensive legal action.
Components of an anti-harassment policy
An effective anti-harassment strategy should be a top priority for all businesses, regardless of size, in order to deter and resolve demoralizing situations at work.
The following components make for a comprehensive policy:
Intent and scope: Make sure to mention the policy’s objective and the people it pertains to.
- State that the policy’s purpose is to maintain a healthy and safety-conscious workplace.
- Specify the unacceptable forms of behavior, such as bullying, harassment, disrespectful language, etc.
- Establish who is responsible for adhering to the policy’s requirements (workers, managers, directors, contractors, and consumers).
Meaning of harassment: Explain what harassment is by listing the actions that are not allowed and giving examples. Be sure to mention that the list provided is not exhaustive.
Procedures for reporting harassment: Make clear what workers should do in the event that they encounter or observe harassment, or any suspicious behavior that could escalate into a serious or widespread problem. The usual course of action is for the employee to notify their supervisor right away, but there are times when that isn’t possible. Every employee has the right to speak with their immediate supervisor, a manager at a higher level, or an HR representative in the event that the supervisor is unavailable or otherwise engaged in the incident. An important part of any policy is making it crystal clear that the company will treat harassers with dignity and respect and that complaints will be thoroughly investigated.
Steps to take during an investigation: Describe the process for dealing with a harassment claim:
- We will conduct thorough and impartial investigations into all claims as soon as possible.
- We will gather all the information on the complaint, record it, and back it up with evidence.
- We will write up a report with all the facts.
- Depending on the situation, corrective measures will be implemented as needed.
Disciplinary action: A concise statement outlining the repercussions of engaging in harassing behavior should be included.
Serious infractions of the anti-harassment policy should result in appropriate disciplinary action. A warning, either verbal or written, along with instructions on how to behave in the future, should suffice. Dismissal, demotion, suspension, sensitivity training, or even dismissal from employment are all possible next steps.
A guide to developing and implementing an anti-harassment policy
Make sure your policies can withstand a lot of different things if you want them to be effective and last. If your company has an anti-harassment policy, here are some things to think about while creating, reviewing, or strengthening it:
- Give a detailed explanation of the forbidden behavior
To avoid any confusion, be as explicit as possible when describing harassment. The following are some examples of harassment and typical harassing behaviors:
Actions such as: open hostility, physical violence, bullying, victimization, indecent language and body language, malicious slander, etc.
Examples:
- Make fun of someone’s culture, religion, or beliefs in a demeaning or condescending way.
- Making sexually suggestive comments, threats, or advances, or asking personal questions.
- Force or violence.
- Touching in an inappropriate or undesirable way.
- The destruction of property and violent outbursts.
- Making obscene noises or gestures at another person.
- Sharing racist or otherwise offensive images, videos, or posts online.
- Using defamatory rumors to bring shame on someone.
- Interfering harmfully or sabotaging other people’s work.
- Singling someone out to conduct degrading duties unrelated to their employment.
- Think about harassment that occurs remotely or online.
Make it clear in your policy that the rules do not only apply to face-to-face meetings; they also extend to communications conducted remotely.
Since the start of the pandemic and the transition to remote work, many people have witnessed a rise in hostile incidents and harassment. On page 11 of a report by Project Include, it is said that 45 percent of employees have witnessed harassment in chat, while 41 percent have witnessed it in email and video conferences.
From time to time, individuals act less appropriately when interacting with a screen than when they are in person. The boundary between their home life and their work life becomes even more porous when they operate remotely. It gives some people the confidence to be careless or offensive when interacting online.
- Go into every claim and write it down.
No matter how shaky you feel about an employee’s harassment claim, you must act swiftly if they make one. Never, under any circumstances, disregard or downplay a grievance lodged against a senior manager or other individual in a position of responsibility.
Furthermore, keep in mind that malicious slander may take many forms. These can be hard to see, but the truth will usually come out in an in-depth investigation.
Every complaint is important, therefore you should research each one carefully, keeping an open mind and not making any assumptions. So that they can feel safe coming forward with harassment accusations, employees need to know that HR is open to hearing them and taking them seriously.
Throughout the investigation, make sure you document everything according to the steps outlined in your policy. It is also crucial to communicate clearly with all parties involved about what has happened in terms of actions and decisions. In order to prevent additional harassment accusations in the future, it is important to resolve concerns quickly and effectively.
- Protect sensitive information and refrain from retaliation
Resolving allegations of harassment requires discretion. Just tell those who need to know about the incident and the investigation. Everyone involved should know better than to talk about what happened to anyone else. This also involves sharing the details with reliable HR colleagues who aren’t involved in the investigation.
Protecting the process’s integrity and employees’ trust requires keeping information as secret as possible.
Additionally, your anti-harassment policies and processes should safeguard workers from reprisal. Nobody, directly or indirectly, should suffer because they reported wrongdoing or helped with the investigation. They shouldn’t experience fear of retaliation or punishment, nor the possibility of losing their jobs or working conditions. It is unacceptable to permit retaliation since it constitutes harassment in and of itself.
- Apply your policy consistently.
The cornerstone of every successful anti-harassment policy is the consistent application of defined processes. When investigating a complaint, as well as when communicating the findings, be sure to adhere to the procedure you’ve specified in your policy.
In the event of a harassment claim, you must follow the procedure precisely. If an employee has a record of complaints, for instance, you shouldn’t ignore them. Do not make any assumptions about this person based on your experiences with them in the past.
- Follow up
After a harassment investigation is over, it’s important to check in with the victim to make sure everything is okay.
See how the complainant is doing by checking in with them. Verify that they are happy with the results and that they are once again at ease in their workplace.
If you had to discipline someone, check in with them from time to time to make sure they’re following the anti-harassment policy and have taken the necessary steps to fix the problem.
During this phase, you should also consider whether your policy requires any revisions in light of the new information.
- Make sure everyone has received and understands the policy.
If no one in your staff knows about or understands your anti-harassment policy, it won’t do any good. Send out copies to all employees and include it in the new hire paperwork as soon as the policy is in place. To verify that the policy has been communicated to each employee, it is prudent to keep a signed acknowledgment form in the employee file.
By arranging for training, you may raise awareness about the need to prevent harassment. It can be easily available through an online curriculum that teaches people to recognize various forms of harassment and how to respond to them. Managers and HR should work together, but they should also have clear guidelines for how to address employee complaints. By providing these educational opportunities, the organization will further demonstrate its resolve to combat harassment.
- Support the policy by fostering an accepting work environment.
Leadership is responsible for establishing a safe work environment. It is unacceptable to routinely tease, scold, or bring unwelcome attention to employees.
Human resources should actively promote a zero-tolerance policy on harassment. If you see or hear about any potentially dangerous conversations, don’t hesitate to warn the leaders involved.
Negative treatment of others will stand out as a stark contrast to the norm when your organization strives to create a good climate of inclusion and respect. If harassment does happen, this will make workers feel more at ease reporting it.
Final thoughts
An organization’s ability to combat harassment depends on its anti-harassment policy, which should include a fair and consistent procedure for dealing with complaints. In the event that workplace harassment or discrimination does occur, your business will be better positioned to avoid and deal with the multitude of issues that will inevitably arise as a result of this.
Keep your policy up-to-date by reviewing and revising it at regular intervals after you’ve established it.
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