Every employer in Fayette and throughout the rest of Kentucky should provide a safe and healthy working environment for their employees. Employers can show their workers that they value and respect them and plan to abide by the existing employment laws by establishing and enforcing anti-discrimination and sexual harassment policies and training sessions.
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), all employers should have documented anti-harassment and discrimination policies that their employees should be asked to read and sign off on. Those policies should outline what constitutes inappropriate conduct and should also admonish workers that no discrimination or harassment of any type will be tolerated in the workplace.
The EEOC also recommends that all employers provide regular training so that their employees will be aware of what constitutes discrimination or harassment. They note that this training should teach them how to report any such incidents that they observe. It should also teach supervisors and upper-level management on how to respond to such reports.
You will want to make sure that any training that you offer covers how the investigation unfolds once an incident is reported to you. You’ll want to make sure to emphasize that you’ll evaluate everything and then take swift action to discipline or terminate any worker who engaged in the harassment or discrimination. You should make sure to keep the alleged victim of such conduct in the loop about your investigation.
One tip that the EEOC recommends that all employers employ is performing climate surveys. They argue that these will aid them in determining if the work environment is ideal for harassment or discrimination to occur. The EEOC also recommends that employers periodically test their supervisors’ effectiveness at responding to such incidents.
Sexual harassment and discrimination aren’t just uncomfortable or inappropriate for workers. This type of behavior is also unlawful. You can be sued in a civil capacity as an employer for having failed to shield your worker from such treatment. If a worker has reported to you that they’ve been sexually harassed or discriminated against, then you may want to reach out to an employment law for employers attorney to ensure that you handle the situation appropriately.