Sexual Harassment Disciplinary Training in Utah
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- Sexual Harassment Disciplinary Training in Utah
Providing onsite Sexual Harassment seminars & Disciplinary training in the following cities:
SALT LAKE CITY | OREM | PROVO
During our one-one-one Harassment Disciplinary and Awareness Training your employee will be challenged & counseled by our top level trainers. They will learn precisely what violations of your company’s policies, EEOC laws that govern harassment & individual statues, they have violated.
These counseling sessions are highly interactive, which we guarantee that your employee will know & understand the standards concerning the workplace & especially the Common Sense factor.
Your employee will take a Pre-Test & Post-Test to determine their exact level of knowledge & retention. This also will become a permanent part of their personnel file, along with several appropriate handouts. Our confidential written summary and professional recommendations, will make sure that your employee comprehends the exact legal statues, company guidelines & “Zero Tolerance” of future problems.
THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION (EEOC) DEFINES SEXUAL HARASSMENT AS FOLLOWS:
- EXPLICITLY OR IMPLICITLY AFFECTS AN INDIVIDUAL’S EMPLOYMENT
- UNREASONABLY INTERFERES WITH AN INDIVIDUAL’S WORK PERFORMANCE
- CREATES AN INTIMIDATING, HOSTILE, OR OFFENSIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT
WORKPLACE HARASSMENT, WHICH INCLUDES SEXUAL HARASSMENT, IS PROHIBITED BY TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 WHICH PROHIBITS EMPLOYERS WITH 15 OR MORE EMPLOYEES FROM DISCRIMINATING ON THE BASIS OF RACE, COLOR, SEX, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN. THE LAW APPLIES TO FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL EMPLOYERS AND GOVERNS ALL EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS. LAWS REGARDING WORKPLACE HARASSMENT ARE ENFORCED BY THE US EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION (EEOC).
IN ADDITION, SIX STATES (CALIFORNIA, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, ILLINOIS, MAINE, AND NEW YORK) HAVE THEIR OWN STATE LAWS SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING SEXUAL HARASSMENT:
- CALIFORNIA – AB 1825, AB 2053, SB 396, SB 1300, SB 1343
- CONNECTICUT – CONNECTICUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITY ACT, TIME’S UP ACT
- DELAWARE – HB 360
- ILLINOIS – SB 0075 ILLINOIS HUMAN RIGHTS ACT, WORK TRANSPARENCY ACT
- MAINE – MAINE EMPLOYMENT LAWS REVISED STATUTE, TITLE 26, SECTION 807
- NEW YORK – NEW YORK HUMAN RIGHTS LAW § 296.1, NEW YORK CITY STOP SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Utah Disciplinary Harassment updates
Nondisclosure and non-disparagement agreements related to sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace are on track to become unenforceable in Utah under new legislation.
The House voted unanimously to approve HB55, titled Employment Confidentiality Amendments, a bill sponsored by Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.
The bill would make NDAs and confidentiality clauses voidable and unenforceable if they prevent employees from discussing sexual assault and sexual harassment cases or allegations, in addition to disclosing the existence of settlements related to those types of incidents, according to the latest version of the bill.
“This is just a step, I feel like, in the right direction to ensure that there’s fewer sexual harassment claims in the workplace and gives those that are victims of voice,” Birkeland said Wednesday on the House floor. “So hopefully when we can talk about it, we can reduce it.”
Birkeland said that 16 of 21 female legislators in the House had been sexually harassed in the workplace, she found in a quick “unscientific poll.”
This is an issue in Utah, she said, explaining that some claims are left with no action because they are not rape.
“We have a long way to go in the workplace … to improve these actions and what’s happening,” she said.
A company that tries to enforce voided confidentiality clauses would be responsible for attorneys fees under this policy, too. The bill would also prohibit retaliation against an employee who doesn’t enter into an employment contract “that contains a non-voidable confidentiality clause as part of a settlement agreement.”
The updated bill also includes that “complying with a civil or criminal subpoena would not invalidate the nondisclosure portion,” MacPherson said.
The legislation was supported by all three people who participated in a public hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee last week.
Kimberly Bernhardt, a southern Utah resident who spoke during Birkeland’s presentation to the committee, became emotional when speaking about the possible impacts of the bill. She said it would help balance the power in the agreements.
“This bill would drive change in improving toxic work environments by providing more accountability and zero tolerance policies for sexual misconduct,” she said.
Bernhardt added that currently, victims and witnesses are forced to be “continuously controlled by the abusive power that has been exercised under these clauses.”
The bill is not retroactive, Birkeland said during the committee hearing on Jan.19. But, she said she would be willing to make it so.
“With the passage of this bill, I hope that more and more victims will have the power to stand up and inform others,” Birkeland said, “so that ultimately we’ll have fewer instances of sexual harassment in the state of Utah.”
