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Liability
Prevention and Management
Appropriate
Workplace Behavior for Managers: A Harassment/Discrimination
Course
(AB 1825 compliant) (Available in English and Spanish)
Welcome to our award-winning Appropriate Workplace Behavior
class, a harassment/discrimination prevention course that simultaneously
improves work relationships and productivity while addressing all
of your compliance needs.
Why
Train on This Topic?
In 1998, two Supreme Court decisions offered employers an affirmative
defense against sexual harassment claims as long as they made a
good faith effort to prevent and respond effective to offensive
behavior. These rulings provided a clear financial incentive to
train managers and supervisors. As of January 1, 2005, it's no longer
an option in California; AB 1825 requires employers who operate
in California and who employ 50 or more persons to provide all supervisors
two hours of sexual harassment training every two years.
However,
simply training on sexual harassment will not protect you from other
types of harassment or retaliation claims. For example, in Reed
v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store,2 the jury found that the plaintiff
had proved her case of sexual harassment but that the employer was
not liable for the harassment because it had made reasonable efforts
to prevent harassment, including providing harassment prevention
training. The jury, however, found that the employer had retaliated
against the plaintiff and awarded punitive damages for the retaliation.
The employer argued that its training and other efforts to prevent
sexual harassment should also protect it from punitive damages against
retaliation. The court disagreed. According to the court,
Title VII clearly prohibits more than sexual harassment....[and]
punitive damages are also available under Title VII for more than
just sexual harassment....[An employer's] good-faith compliance
must relate to the specific claim being raised under Title VII.
(emphasis added).
Why
Use Us?
Our
signature Appropriate Workplace Behavior training course
received HRExecutive Magazine's Top Ten Training products
of the year in 2002 and has been receiving rave reviews since 1991.
That's because we don't compliance training as a burden - we see
it as an opportunity. Developed by a clinical psychologist and labor
law attorney, this unique course meets CA AB 1825 requirements for
mandatory sexual harassment prevention training and goes much further.
While we're teaching you what to avoid and what your legal responsibilities
are, we're also teaching what to do and how to be a more effective
communicator. We're also helping your managers and supervisors understand
the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
As a psychologist,
I know it's much easier to give up something when you have something
better to replace it with. That's why we teach managers and employees
what behavior is most effective at work, what humor they can use
to establish rapport and relieve tension, the do's and don'ts of
office romance, and how to analyze the costs and benefits of personal
behavior choices.
Length
of Training: 2 to 5 hours, depending upon the training needs
of the organization. We can do a 2 hour course strictly designed
to meet CA 1825 mandatory sexual harassment prevention requirements
or we can incorporate other training needs into our anti-harassment
training. For example, we have included a discrimination module,
a workplace violence module, a cross-cultural communication module,
and/or a coaching and counseling module as part of our harassment/discrimination
prevention programs.
Do
your managers need this training? Consider the following scenarios
and the questions that follow it.
| Sample
Course Scenario: Two employees, Jilad and Jenna, have been
spending a significant amount of time together working on a
project. As they get to know each other better, they increasingly
engage in a lot of teasing, playful banter as well as discussions
about their personal beliefs. For example, the war in Iraq and
the differences between various religions are often topics of
conversation. When Jilad heatedly makes disparaging remarks
about Moslems, however, Jenna feels increasingly uncomfortable
with the conversation, particularly as many of her relatives
are Moslem. When she tells Jilad that the conversation has crossed
the line, he gets defensive and says she just doesn't like to
hear opinions with which she doesn't agree. Their supervisor,
Maria, agrees with Jilad, telling Jenna she can't suddenly decide
a topic is offensive when she has been a willing participant
to date. |
| Sample
Course Scenario: An employee, Michelle, comes to you late
on Friday evening as you are getting ready to leave the office.
She tells you that she is having a problem with her new supervisor,
Jack, and wants some advice from you. You are her former supervisor
but now have no management responsibilities for Michelle. As
you listen further, she tells you that Jack often makes comments
about her physical appearance and has spontaneously rubbed her
shoulders on two occasions. The day before, when she asked for
Jack's help with a problem, he said, "Only if I get a kiss
in return." She also tells you that she does not want to
make a formal complaint and asks you to keep the matter between
the two of you. |
- What
do I do if my employees are engaging in questionable behavior
but no one seems to be offended?
- How
can I use humor to relieve employee stress without running the
risk of offending someone?
- What
is retaliation? What is my role after an employee complains to
HR?
- What
are my legal responsibilities as a manager?
- What
is sexual harassment and how does it differ from other kinds of
harassment?
- What
do I do about two employees who are dating and frequently bring
their relationship problems into work?
- What
do I do if an employee comes to me with a complaint? What if I'm
not the complaining employee's manager?
- How
can I create a comfortable environment so that employees will
feel safe coming to me with any problems?
- What
do I do if an employee or coworkers says something that offends
me?
Do
your managers know the answers to the above questions? Call us at
858-481-8625 and we'll guarantee your staff:
- Develops
the practical and interpersonal skills to investigate allegations
of harassment, discrimination, theft, and other employee misconduct.
- Understands
how to balance the rights of the complainant and the accused while
protecting the interests of your organization
- Knows
how to effectively interview witnesses
- Has
the tools to make credibility determinations
- Understands
how to appropriately document your findings
Need
harassment/discrimination prevention training for your employees?
Check out our award-winning
Appropriate Workplace
Behavior course for staff.
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