EEOC Urges Employers to Improve Workplace Anti-Harassment Training

Calling workplace harassment an “all too persistent problem,” two commissioners from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are calling on employers to rework and improve their anti-harassment training programs. The commissioners headed a task force that evaluated sexual harassment in the work place. The EEOC’s chairperson seems to agree that more and better training is required. She said, “I thank Commissioners Feldbum and Lipnic and the members of the Select Task Force for their work to combat the persistent problem of workplace harassment. Preventing harassment from occurring in the first place is far preferable to remedying its consequences.”

The EEOC was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is charged with addressing workplace discrimination issues. It is the federal equivalent of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), which has the same mission. In Massachusetts, training employees on sex harassment issues is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged. Whether and to what extent employers accused of sex harassment have done so is often an important issue at MCAD hearings.

Employers will be well-served to examine their workforces and consider how best to train their employees. Anti-harassment training should be tailored to the needs of individual businesses. Its goal should be to help employees understand what sexual harassment is, how it can damage individuals and companies, and how to deal with it as it arises. No anti-harassment program can be effective unless employees believe their employers are serious about it and are consequently unafraid to use complaint and other systems without fear of retaliation.