Preventing a Hostile Work Environment

When it comes to eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace, the primary responsibility lies with the employer.

By establishing clear rules, guidelines and regulations in regard to workplace harassment, the employer can help prevent harassment from occurring in the first place. This will also help put an end to the sexual harassment as quickly as possible.

Employers can take these steps to prevent a hostile work environment from developing:

• Clearly communicate that sexual harassment will not be tolerated
• Provide sexual harassment training to all employees, including contractors who might regularly interact with your employees
• Remind employees that Title VII protects them from experiencing retaliation or termination after filing a sexual harassment complaint
• Establish a complaint or grievance process that can be easily followed by those who have been harassed
• Take immediate and appropriate actions when a sexual harassment complaint has been filed

By taking these steps, an employer creates a work environment in which the employees feel comfortable with expressing their concerns toward the harasser as well as to a supervisor. In this way, incidences of sexual harassment can be put to an end quickly and before the situation escalates out of control and becomes costly to both the employees and the company.

To view more examples of our work, visit the Sample Content section of our website. And to learn more about sexual harassment, read our sample article.