Sexual Harassment

Supervisors must develop a relationship in which employees will come to them with complaints. In addition, they need strong skills in listening, communicating, and documenting. Supervisors play a critical role in making sure retaliation does not occur. Companies should want to train supervisors to handle complaints, prevent retaliation, and resolve conflicts, especially regarding things like harassment, which, if handled wrong, could be very costly.

Creating a work environment free of risky harassing behaviors eliminates high lawsuit risks and ensures a happier workplace. Harassment in any form creates undue stress, negativity, and conflict, which can damage teamwork, relationships, and productivity. Be clear about expectations, define a complaint process, and educate.

We Offer Harassment Training Classes

The Top 10 Statistics You Must Know about Sexual Harassment at Work

21% of Americans have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
81% of sexual harassment victims are women.
64% of healthcare workers experience verbal abuse.
22% of healthcare professionals report being assaulted.
28% of victims don’t report the harassment to human resources or management usually out of fear that nothing will be done.
58% of female surgeons have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
82.5% of women have reported sexual harassment in academic medical centers.
68% of women experience harassment in public spaces, including streets and parks.
13.6% increase in sexual harassment complaints between 2017 and 2018.

Are your Leaders Trained to Handle a Potential Case Correctly?

We Specialize in Anti Harassment Training for California

Sexual Harassment Training Requirement – State of California

Timing: Must provide sexual harassment prevention training and education to all employees between now [March 2019] and the end of the year, 12/31/2019. The law requires employees to be trained during the calendar year 2019. Employees who were trained in 2018 or before will need to be retrained.

Employee count: Employee count lowered from 50 to 5.

Employee Definition: Employees include full, part, and temporary employees.

Length of Training: Minimum of two (2) hours of sexual harassment prevention training and education to all supervisory employees and at least one (1) hour of such training to all non-supervisory employees.

Frequency of Training: Training and education must be provided once every two years after initial training.

Content of Training: the law requires the training to include harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation and to include practical examples of such harassment and to be provided by trainers or educators with knowledge and expertise in those areas.

Format of Training:

Employers must provide sexual harassment prevention training in a classroom setting, through interactive E-learning, or a live webinar. E-learning training must provide instructions on how to contact a trainer who can answer questions within two business days. The training may be conducted with other employees, as a group, or individually, and broken up into shorter time segments, as long as the two-hour requirement for supervisory employees and a one-hour need for non-supervisory employees is reached.

The definition of sexual harassment under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964;

The statutes and case-law prohibiting and preventing sexual harassment;
The types of conduct that can be sexual harassment;
The remedies available for victims of sexual harassment;
Strategies to prevent sexual harassment;
Supervisors’ obligation to report harassment;
Practical examples of harassment;
The limited confidentiality of the complaint process;
Resources for victims of sexual harassment, including to whom they should report it;
How employers must correct harassing behavior;
What to do if a supervisor is personally accused of harassment;
The elements of an effective anti-harassment policy and how to use it;
“Abusive conduct” under Government Code section 12950.1, subdivision (g)(2).
Discuss harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, which shall include practical examples inclusive of harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
Finally, any training must include questions that assess learning, skill-building activities to assess understanding and application of content, and hypothetical scenarios about harassment with discussion questions.

There are three types of qualified trainers:

Attorneys who have been members of the bar of any state for at least two years and whose practice includes employment law under the Fair Employment and Housing Act or Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Human resource professionals or harassment prevention consultants with at least two years of practical experience in:

1. Designing or conducting training on discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention;
2. Responding to or investigating sexual harassment or other discrimination complaints;
3. Advising employers or employees about discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention.
4. Law school, college, or university instructors with a post-graduate degree or California teaching credential and either 20 hours of instruction about employment law under the FEHA or Title VII.

Neither DFEH nor any other state agency issues licenses or certificates are validating a person’s qualifications to teach sexual harassment prevention, training classes. Employers keep a record of all training and signed employee acknowledgments of attendance as well as who performed the training, how, and when. California Senate Bill 778 SB 778, as amended, Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement.

Employers: Sexual Harassment Training Requirements:

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act make specified employment practices unlawful, including the harassment of an employee directly by the employer or indirectly by agents of the employer with the employer’s knowledge. Under existing law, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing administers these provisions. Existing law, by January 1, 2020, requires an employer with five or more employees to provide at least 2 hours of classroom or other practical, interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees. Furthermore, at least 1 hour of class or additional practical, interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all non-supervisory employees in California within six months of their assumption of a position.

Existing law also specifies that an employer who has provided this training to an employee after January 1, 2019, is not required to provide sexual harassment training and education by January 1, 2020, deadline. Provide the above-described training and education by January 1, 2021, and after that once every two years.

The bill would also specify that an employer who has provided this training and education in 2019 is not required to offer it again until two years after that. The training must be interactive and include an explanation of sexual harassment consistent with guidance issued by the Department of Labor in consultation with the Division of Human Rights.

Examples of conduct that would constitute unlawful sexual harassment include information concerning the federal and state statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment. Provide remedies available to victims of sexual harassment and provide information relating to employees’ rights of redress and all open forums for adjudicating complaints, well as details for such supervisors. The legislation requires that employers keep a record of all training’s when how who and signed employee acknowledgments of attendance.

Sexual Harassment Training Requirement – State of New York

Harassment Prevention

The deadline for NY harassment training extended to October 2019. All New York State employers are now required to adopt written sexual harassment prevention policies for employees and must implement mandatory anti-harassment training.NYC Timing: Effective April 1, 2019, the Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act requires New York City employers with 15 or more employees to provide annual interactive training to prevent sexual harassment for all employees, including interns and supervisory and managerial employees. New employees (including interns) expected to work more than eighty hours per calendar year must complete such training within ninety days of hire.

Note: New York State requires that all employers have an anti-sexual harassment policy. The State Department of Labor has published a model policy. Employees include full, part, and temporary employees. Employers must train all employees – including exempt, non-exempt, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees and employees who “work” a portion of their time in New York State, even if they’re based in another state.”

This includes (1) employees who work or will work in New York City; (2) employees who work a portion of their time in New York City; and (3) employees who are based elsewhere but who interact with other employees in New York City (even if they are not physically present in the City).Frequency of Training: Each employee must receive training on an annual basis, starting October 9, 2018.Content of Training: must provide an explanation of sexual harassment as a form of unlawful discrimination under City, state, and federal law; descriptions and examples of sexual harassment; explanation of the complaint process; the prohibition of retaliation; and the importance of bystander intervention.

Computer-based or online training programs may be used to satisfy the training requirements. The training must: be interactive and include an explanation of sexual harassment consistent with guidance issued by the Department of Labor in consultation with the Division of Human Rights.

Include examples of conduct that would constitute unlawful sexual harassment. Include information concerning the federal and state statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment and remedies available to victims of sexual harassment. Include information concerning employees’ rights of redress and all open forums for adjudicating complaints. Include information addressing conduct by supervisors and any additional responsibilities for such supervisors. The legislation requires that employers keep a record of all training’s, when how, who, and signed employee acknowledgments of attendance. Read the Facts about Sexual Harassment Brochure.

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