Sexual Harassment Training Quiz

1. Sexual Harassment Training Quiz

2. Introduction Does your organization offer adequate training to reduce the risk of sexual harassment in the workplace? What about other forms of harassment and discrimination? What’s more, does your sexual harassment training incorporate best practices and is it in compliance with applicable laws? Take the following short self-assessment quiz to determine the health of your organization’s workplace harassment prevention training.

3. Question #1 Does your organization offer regular harassment prevention training to all employees? Best practice recommends regular training for all employees on preventing workplace harassment and discrimination. California law AB1825 requires such training for supervisors every two years, and that schedule is considered a good standard for organizations regardless of location.

4. Question #2 During years when full training is not offered, does your organization offer refresher training? Even in years when full training is not being provided, best practice recommends providing refresher training in order to keep information fresh in employees’ minds.

5. Question #3 Does your training cover all forms of harassment, not just sexual harassment? While sexual harassment cases tend to receive the most press coverage, illegal harassment can occur based on any of 10 federally protected characteristics. Of these 10, harassment and discrimination based on race is statistically most prevalent, while sexual harassment comes in second. Of course, harassment claims can be based on more than one characteristic. Therefore, it is important that your training cover all types of harassment and discrimination.

6. Question #4 Is your training content developed by qualified professionals? California’s AB 1825 law requires that training be provided by a qualified "trainer," and this is a good standard for any employer to adopt, whether you have employees in California or not. The trainer should be an attorney, professor, instructor, human resource professional or harassment prevention consultant with at least two years of expertise in employment law and/or harassment prevention. At Global Compliance our courses are developed by our in-house team of ethics and compliance experts, including a former Department of Justice lawyer, Chief Compliance Officers and experienced corporate attorneys, who are also available for in-person sessions.

7. Question #5 Do your employees understand the concept of protected classes or characteristics and what they include? For behavior to be considered unlawful harassment or discrimination, it must be based on a protected characteristic. These characteristics have been determined by US employment law and have been expanded by many state laws. Federally protected characteristics include age (40 years or older), color, genetic information, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion (or lack thereof), pregnancy, and veteran status. State laws often add protections for marital status and sexual orientation, among others. Your preventing workplace harassment training should touch on all protected characteristics.

8. Question #6 Do your employees understand the concept of a “hostile work environment”? This is a form of harassment that creates a work environment that is abusive, hostile, or intimidating. Hostile work environment harassment is severe, pervasive, reasonably offensive and based on a protected characteristic. Employee training should provide learners with the knowledge and skills to recognize a hostile work environment, and provide managers with the information they need to prevent a hostile work environment from occurring.

9. Question #7 Do your employees understand the concept of “quid pro quo harassment”? This is a form of harassment where an employee is required to endure harassing behavior in order to keep his/her job or job benefits. It is important that employee training define this key concept for learners so that they can recognize it in the workplace and provide managers with the information they need to avoid committing this form of harassment.

10. Question #8 Do your employees know what retaliation is and how they are protected against it? Your training should make clear that every employee, and anyone closely affiliated with the employee, is protected from retaliation for reporting an allegation of harassment or discrimination, providing evidence in an investigation, or opposing harassment and discrimination. Examples of retaliation may include demotion, termination, loss of benefits, and negative job references.

11. Question #9 Do your employees know who they should contact to report or discuss allegations of harassment? Employees should know who to contact in their organization to report or discuss harassment allegations. Typically, this is a supervisor, the human resources department, or the employer’s ethics and compliance hotline. Employees should also be familiar with their options for contacting external agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) or a state human rights agency.

12. Question #10 Are your employees familiar with how allegations are handled within your organization? It is important for employees to understand how allegations will be investigated, what corrective actions may be taken, what level of confidentiality can be expected, and what kind of relief victims may receive. Disseminating this information is vital for building employee confidence in your organization’s ability to address allegations.

13. Conclusion Did you answer “no” to one or more of the above questions? If so, your organization’s training program may not be adequately protecting you against the risk of harassment and discrimination allegations. To learn more about how Global Compliance’s Preventing Workplace Harassment courses can help protect your organization: Call 1-800-876-5998 to speak with a Global Compliance Representative Visit our website at www.globalcompliance.com