Harassment Prevention Training in Human

Harassment Prevention Training in Human Resources

Your boss has questioned your plans to include harassment prevention training in next year's budget. He said, "We don't have any harassment around here. Why do we need this kind of training?" What are some of the reasons an organization should have harassment prevention training?

First of all, it might behoove this boss to remember that simply because there has not been a complaint at this date does not mean that harassment has not and is not occurring within the organization. Prevention, for any problem, is the best cure, and before a lawsuit is brought before the organization it is wise to address the problem, and to show that the organization cares about the issue. Secondly, a gentle reminder to the boss might be in order that male and female perceptions of what constitutes harassment may be radically different. Even legal scholars have disputed whether a 'reasonable person' or a 'reasonable woman' standard is the best standard to have, when determining if something is or is not harassment. Regardless of where the boss stands on this legal dispute, the fact that men and women often speak different 'languages' and have different standards of what constitutes harassment is important to keep in mind. Discussing the issue, finding out how to diffuse tensions, and also simply understanding that different people may have different comfort levels within the organization is also vital in preventing possible misunderstandings.

But even if what the boss says is true, and that there are no tensions at a very high level between the genders that potentially approach the legal definition of harassment, even social discomfort can result in lost productivity. Hence, a workshop on harassment prevention could potentially be a huge benefit to the company. Additionally, attitudes in the workplace are constantly changing, and what was not considered harassment 20 years ago is unacceptable today, thus it is important, regardless, for the company to instate such training as part of its general workplace routine, before it does become a problem in the future, as no one can predict what the employees of the company's of the future will believe, look, or sound like.

You recently interviewed an African-American candidate, but did not hire her. When she found out she did not get the job, she called the office and said she felt the hiring decision was discriminatory and she was considering taking legal action. What laws would she base this on? To justify your employment decision, what factors need to be addressed?

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. If this African-American candidate was denied employment based upon her race or gender, the office would be in violation of federal employment law. To protect itself, the office might wish to point to its policy that it is an Equal Opportunity Employer or demonstrate that African-American employees are present in the office, as if a pattern of discrimination in hiring and promotion on the part of the company can be demonstrated, that will add weight to the woman's case.

However, according to Nolo.com "the law does not require employers to give any explanation at all," as to why someone was not hired and it may actually behoove the office to not volunteer a reason why the candidate was not hired" ("How can I prove I was turned down due to employer discrimination?" Nolo.com. 2007).