In response to the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, state legislatures and localities are taking action, including requiring sexual harassment training and policies that explain where employees can turn if they don’t believe their employer has handled the situation appropriately. New York’s new law requires that policies explain that employees will be disciplined for engaging in harassment and – perhaps most importantly – managers will be disciplined when they allow harassment to happen.
Did you read that? Managers will be disciplined for letting harassment continue. This is where NBC, CBS, and nearly every employer who makes the news has allegedly failed – a manager knew about the behavior and didn’t make it stop. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why manager training is critical to the end of harassment.
The law focuses on managers because managers are the employer. They make crucial decisions, like hiring and firing. They sign contracts. Often, the buck stops with them even if they are in the dreaded middle management. This means managers are responsible to take action when they get wind of harassment, but often, managers don’t understand the crucial role they play in preventing and stopping harassment. As legislative bodies take more and more action, here are some of the lessons you can incorporate into your training now:
Managers must know the work environment they create and manage. For a manager, the word “manage” is in her title. So, she must actually manage. Merriam-Webster defines the verb “manage” as “to direct or carry on business or affairs.” No one can effectively do this if she doesn’t know what is going on or doesn’t understand how her people interact. So, dear manager, know your people. Also, set a tone of respect with your people. Be the example. (You can have bad days – pobody’s nerfect – but when you make a mistake, acknowledge it and move forward.) While the “doing” might be more fun, the “managing” is your job. When you know the work environment, you can take steps to prevent harassment.
Managers have the power to do something. A manager can’t throw her hands up when she learns about possible harassment. Harassment requires her to dig in, tackle the problem, and sometimes, make some really difficult decisions. Organizations may differ on what exactly they want the manager to do – report to HR, step in and separate the people, suspend the alleged harasser, discipline, etc. – so train the manager on what to do and who to talk to when she needs help. (Remember, managers need to know enough.) In manager training, go through scenarios, talk through what the organization would want the managers to do. This will invite participation, just the kind of interactive dialogue the EEOC and state agencies want in harassment training.
There is no such thing as an official complaint. A whiff, a rumor, seeing someone uncomfortable or crying, a conversation between a manager and an employee that’s “just between us” all trigger action by an employer. In order to have a defense to harassment claim, an employer must take “timely and appropriate action” when it learns of harassment, so if a manager learns of harassment, she puts the employer on the hook to take action. Waiting for an “official” complaint is not only poor management, it creates liability for an employer. No manager wants to do that.
You will get in trouble for harassing too. Because the law treats managers as the employer, when a manager engages in harassment, the employer can automatically be liable for the harassment. Managers have to understand this.
Harassment hasn’t always been clear, and the courts haven’t helped much. That said, we have an ethical obligation to help employees and managers understand it and how we define respect in our workplaces. The difference between “You look nice today” and “That dress hugs you in all the right ways” is respect. One statement is a respectful compliment. The other can be characterized as harassment. Will your managers step in when they hear the dress one? Will they know what to do? Your managers absolutely need to know what to do at the moment the statement is made or when an employee tells what happened. So, train them. Please.
