The term “workplace harassment” itself is distressing. So, you can imagine the condition of the individuals involved in it. Their overall morale and productivity reduce and they don’t feel safe working in the organization. Here, the responsibility of employers becomes significant.
If you are an employer, you should quickly address these incidents and try to keep the environment of your organization safe and respectful. To make it possible, follow the steps discussed in this post.
Steps to take after reporting of a harassment incident
Acknowledge the Complaint
No complaint is small or big; so, you should take every complaint from your employees seriously. Even, you should acknowledge the incident reported verbally. When acknowledging, make sure it’s confidential and professionally handled.
Initiate an Investigation
Your investigation on the complaint should be immediate and unbiased, no matter who the culprit is. Gather statements from all parties and witnesses involved along with relevant pieces of evidence. Listen to the accused sides of the story as well without any bias.
Evaluate the Evidence
After gathering statements and relevant evidence, evaluate them. Try to find out if they all are genuine and compare them against your organization’s harassment policy. If the case is complex, take professional legal assistance.
Disciplinary measures to take
Progressive discipline
Give a verbal warning if it’s minor or first-time for the employee. If the problem persists or becomes more serious, give a written warning to the employee. Educate that employee on proper workplace conduct.
Severe actions
Some employees don’t change even after receiving multiple warnings; they continue doing the same. In this condition, take severe actions, such as suspend without paying, demote to the least interactive position or terminate immediately.
Maintain fairness and consistency
While taking any measure or action, you should be fair and consistent. Don’t decide randomly; instead, consider the evidence and policies of your organization. There should be no perception of favoritism or biases in employees, so address these cases consistently.
Ways to prevent future workplace harassment incidents
Implement comprehensive training
Many workplace harassment cases are not reported because employees don’t understand the situation and policies related to it. So, you should conduct regular and comprehensive harassment training for employees, including role-playing scenarios.
Strengthen reporting mechanisms
There should be multiple channels for employees to report harassment. It would be great if you give an option of anonymous reporting. Discuss ways to communicate the issues and how to address them.
Review and Update Policies
Just like other policies, you should regularly review and update your harassment policy. Make sure the policy is clear and comprehensive to your employees. Most importantly, the policy should be based on new legal standards and needs of your organization.
Conclusion
To keep your employees safe and avoid any harassment incident in your organization, it’s important that you discipline all your employees. The best and most effective way is conducting harassment disciplinary training in your organization. Involve everyone in the training to eliminate any biases and maintain harmony.
For the harassment disciplinary training, contact Sexual Harassment Disciplinary.
