Six Elements Of An Anti-Harassment Policy

If you are reviewing or setting up a policy on anti-harassment and complaint procedures for your company or organization, here is some basic information you should consider.

It generally is necessary and good business practice for employers to establish, publicize and enforce anti-harassment policies and complaint procedures. As the Supreme Court stated, "Title VII is designed to encourage the creation of anti-harassment policies and effective grievance mechanisms."

Some "best practices" steps to follow:

An employer should provide every employee with a copy of its policy and complaint procedure and redistribute it periodically. The policy should be written in a way that will be understood by all employees. Other measures of communication include posting the policy and procedures in a central location and incorporating them into the company's employee handbook.

If possible, the employer should provide training to all employees (including managers and supervisors) to ensure that they understand their rights and responsibilities.

An anti-harassment policy and complaint procedure should contain, at a minimum, the following six elements:

1. A clear explanation of prohibited conduct.
2. Assurance that employees who make a complaint of harassment or provide information related to such complaints wil be protected against retaliation.
3. A clearly described complaint process that provides accessible avenues for complaints.
4. Assurance that the employer will protect the confidentiality of harassment complaints to the extent possible.
5. A complaint process that provides a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation.
6. Assurance that the employer will take immediate and appropriate corrective action when it determines that harassment has occurred.

While the Supreme Court noted that the creation of an anti-harassment policy and complaint procedure "is not necessary in every instance as a matter of law," failure to do so will make it difficult for an employer to prove that it exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct harassment.

Bottome line: Have a policy - communicate and enforce it.

Comments

[Melony]

On May 6th I called out of work, the only time in my 5 months of employment, because my daughter was sick. I received a call back from my manager a few hours later stating that they were letting me go. I performed my job well and had never been either verbally warned or written up about anything. I left work on Monday with no problems and suddenly I am fired the next day. I have left messages for my manager to call me back & I have also sent her e-mails asking to know why I was being fired. She also told me that she would do anything I needed her to do & that she was sorry. I have also requested a letter of recommendation, but have not received a phone call or an e-mail back at least explaining why I was let go. Is this legal? Can I make a complaint, and if so, where? Thanks!