As a business owner, you want to create a workplace that attracts and retains top talent, fosters creativity and supports growth. Unfortunately, workplace harassment can undermine these goals, creating an uncomfortable and potentially toxic environment for employees.
But here's the good news: you can prevent and change that.
With effective anti-harassment training, you can take a crucial step toward creating a safe and inclusive workplace for your employees. Here’s what you need to know to empower your employees to recognize, prevent and report harassment.
Between 2018 and 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 98,411 charges alleging general harassment and 27,291 sexual harassment charges. This came after the #MeToo movement in October 2017, which led to a significant increase in sexual harassment charges up until the pandemic in 2020.
That said, most workplace harassment often goes unreported. Consider the following stats from an EEOC Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace
Educating your team on identifying and preventing sexual harassment is key to creating a healthy workplace culture and employee retention.
Anti-harassment training raises awareness of what’s considered harassment, how to prevent it and what to do if you witness it. Making training easy, engaging and accessible with online training ensures your whole team learns these key lessons.
Sometimes employees don't even realize they're engaging in harassing behaviors. Targeted team members often don’t know how to respond. By providing easy-to-access, clear and effective training to employees and managers, you can support your team while avoiding costly complaints, violations and lawsuits.
Certain cities and states require employers to provide sexual harassment training for employees. Others encourage training.
California requires two hours of anti-harassment training for supervisors and one hour of training for employees every two years.
Connecticut requires two hours of training for employees and supervisors within six months of hire.
Delaware requires companies with 50 or more employees to provide anti-harassment training within a year of hiring and every two years after that.
Illinois requires employers of 15 or more people to train all employees every year. Separately, Chicago requires two hours of anti-harassment training for supervisors, one hour of employee training every year, and an additional hour of bystander intervention training for all employees. The first bystander training must happen by July 1, 2023.
Maine requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide anti-harassment training within a year of hiring.
Washington D.C. requires companies with tipped employees to provide training within 90 days of hiring.
New York and New York City require anti-harassment training for all employees every year. New York City limits this to companies that employ 15 or more employees and requires training within 90 days of hire. New York released updated training requirements in April 2023.
Washington State requires employers in specific industries, like hospitality, retail, security, and property service contractors, to give employees a list of harassment prevention resources and a panic button.
In addition to these legal requirements, the following states encourage employers to provide this training: Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont.
In every other state, anti-harassment training is considered a best practice.
Watch a sample of our anti-harassment training on our YouTube channel.
Over 92 percent of employees prefer online training over in-person training. showd.me makes that easy for you!
Online training, like compliance training from showd.me, ensures all employees are trained with minimal disruption to the business. Instead of closing your restaurant or gathering your healthcare team for in-person training, online training can be completed on demand. Training accessible over SMS and email makes it easy to complete the course.
You can also track online training completion to ensure you meet anti-harassment compliance requirements.
By educating employees on what constitutes harassment, how to prevent it, and how to respond if it occurs, you help create a supportive and safe workplace for everyone.
If you’re ready to implement a high-quality anti-harassment program, we’re here to help. Sign up now or schedule a demo at your convenience.
showd.me provides the right training, to the right employee, at the right time.
Click the button below to request a demo today!
Watch a sample of our anti-harassment training on our YouTube channel.
Over 92 percent of employees prefer online training over in-person training. showd.me makes that easy for you!
showd.me provides the right training, to the right employee, at the right time.
Click the button below to request a demo today!
Let Showd.me deliver the essential training your employees need, saving you time, reducing training costs, and ensuring compliance. No heavy lift required!
