Your employer prohibits harassment and is committed to maintaining a harassment-free work environment. Employees should read and understand their company's sexual harassment policy, complete any required training, and contact HR with any questions. Unwelcome sexual conduct that creates an offensive or hostile work environment can be considered sexual harassment under the law. Companies must investigate complaints according to their policies to remedy issues and prevent future harassment.

1. Preventing Sexual
Harassment

2. Preventing Sexual Harassment
Your employer prohibits harassment
in the workplace and is committed to
maintaining a hostile-free work
environment for all of its employees.

3. Preventing Sexual Harassment
Training helps you understand what
to do if you believe your company
sexual harassment policy is being
violated.

4. Preventing Sexual Harassment
Read and understand your company
sexual harassment policy.

5. Preventing Sexual Harassment
Contact your human resources
department with any questions you
might have about the policy.

6. Legal Overview

7. Legal Overview
Unlawful harassment is a serious
matter, so you need to be clear about
what is and isn’t unlawful harassment.

8. Legal Overview
The Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) guidelines define
harassment on the basis of sex.

9. Legal Overview
The EEOC guidelines state the same
principles apply to harassment on the
basis of race, color, religion or national
origin.

10. Legal Overview
The same principles apply to other
protected characteristics such as age
and disability.

11. Definition – Sexual Harassment
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests
for sexual favors and other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature
when:

12. Definition – Sexual Harassment
1. Submission to such conduct is made
either explicitly or implicitly a
condition of an individual’s
employment.

13. Definition – Sexual Harassment
2. Submission to or rejection of such
conduct by an individual is used as a
basis for employment decisions
affecting such individuals.

14. Definition – Sexual Harassment
3. Such conduct has the purpose or
effect of unreasonably interfering
with an individual’s work
performance or creating an
intimidating, hostile or offensive
working environment.

15. Legal Overview
Company policy may differ from the
law.

16. Legal Overview
Conduct may violate your company
policy even though it doesn’t violate
the law.

17. Legal Overview
You need to understand your
company policy and the law.

18. Legal Overview
Commenting on the fact that a person
looks nice isn’t sexual harassment.

19. Legal Overview
However, if comments are frequent
and mention how your body looks,
they cross the line.

20. Legal Overview
Uncomfortable is the key word.

21. Legal Overview
Sometimes it is hard to know where
the lines are and what is illegal.

22. Hostile Work
Environment

23. Hostile Work Environment
If you’re being made uncomfortable in
your work environment, or someone’s
conduct is unwelcome, review your
company policy.

24. Hostile Work Environment
Contact your human resources
department if you’re feeling
uncomfortable or threatened.

25. Hostile Work Environment
Tell the person his or her advances are
not welcome.

26. Hostile Work Environment
Offensive language and telling off-
color jokes can be construed as sexual
harassment.

27. Hostile Work Environment
People usually back off if you let them
know you don’t like their behavior.

28. Hostile Work Environment
Check your company harassment
policy.

29. Hostile Work Environment
Offensive behavior is not unlawful
unless it is pervasive.

30. Hostile Work Environment
Behavior has to be so offensive that it
affects a reasonable person’s ability to
work.

31. Hostile Work Environment
Some courts recognize that men and
women think differently, and some
things tend to offend many women but
aren’t offensive to men.

32. Hostile Work Environment
To be actionable under the law, the
claimant must prove that:

33. Hostile Work Environment
He or she has been subjected to
unwelcome harassment.

34. Hostile Work Environment
The harassment was based on sex.

35. Hostile Work Environment
The harassment was sufficiently severe
or pervasive that it altered terms and
conditions of claimant’s employment
and created an abusive working
environment.

36. Hostile Work Environment
To be a violation of the law, the
harassment has to be so bad that it
gets in the way of a person’s ability to
work.

37. Hostile Work Environment
Sexual harassment applies equally to
offensive language, including vulgar
jokes, profanity and pictures.

38. The Complaint
Procedure

39. The Complaint Procedure
Follow company policy so it has an
opportunity to stop the offensive
behavior.

40. The Complaint Procedure
This includes when an employee is
uncomfortable with the conduct of one
of the company’s customers or with
people who the employee must deal
with in the workplace.

41. The Investigation

42. The Investigation
When the company is made aware of a
potential problem, it has a duty to
investigate it.

43. The Investigation
When an employee reasonably believes
the policy is being violated and
initiates the complaint procedure,
there will be no retaliation.

44. The Investigation
A formal, written complaint does not
need to be made to initiate an
investigation.

45. The Investigation
When your company is on notice of
concern, action will be taken.

46. The Investigation
What the supervisor knows, the
company knows.

47. The Investigation
Companies treat hostile environment
claims as a serious matter.

48. The Investigation
Employers are charged with
investigating complaints and, where
appropriate, taking prompt and
effective remedial action.

49. The Investigation
If a complaint is received,
management will conduct a thorough
and impartial investigation.

50. Effective Remedial Action
If your company policy was violated,
the company will take prompt and
effective remedial action.

51. Confidentiality
By law, it is not required to make the
corrective action known to the
employee making the complaint.

52. Confidentiality
Just because it’s not publicized doesn’t
mean the alleged harasser was not
punished.

53. Prevention

54. Prevention
Communication and using good
judgment is the key to creating a
respectful workplace in which
everyone feels comfortable.

55. Prevention
Be sensitive to whether your conduct
is welcome or not.

56. Prevention
If someone says they’re offended, then
apologize.

57. Prevention
If someone does apologize, you should
try your best to forgive them.

58. Preventing Sexual
Harassment