The best way to prevent sexual harassment at work? Train employees

NEW YORK — Even before reports from The New York Times, The New Yorker and other outlets drew attention to the #MeToo movement, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was focused on workplace sexual harassment prevention — and nearly overwhelmed by the prevalence of the issue, said Victoria Lipnic, acting chair of the EEOC, on Thursday.

Lipnic said that when she joined the EEOC as commissioner in 2010, she was shocked by the number of reports of sexual harassment EEOC received. It is a “continuing, persistent and pervasive problem” in many workplaces, Lipnic said.

“I was so struck by, and really appalled by, how many cases of harassment the EEOC continued to see,” she said speaking at a briefing hosted by law firm Epstein Becker Green.

While harassment may have been the EEOC’s focus all along, the #MeToo movement has placed more emphasis on the commission and the policies it develops. As a result, the EEOC is urging HR departments to spotlight employee training, particularly of first-line supervisors who interact with employees on a daily basis.

“There needs to be some innovation about workforce training and harassment prevention,” she said.

The EEOC worked with experts to develop their June 2016 report on sexual harassment in the workforce, what Lipnic calls a “roadmap” for employers on how they can better address sexual harassment with workers. The commission’s training focuses on three pillars: general civility in the workplace, or how employees treat one another; bystander intervention; and employee education.

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Studies show there has been movement in those areas in the past year. The Society for Human Resource Management’s recent survey of 1,000 executives found that 24% said they were more careful about the type of language they used in the workplace, 16% said they avoid specific topics or jokes, and 9% said they no longer touch employees at work, as a result of the #MeToo movement. Meanwhile, 72% of employees told SHRM they were satisfied with how their companies handled harassment since last fall.

Since the #MeToo movement took off, there has been more of a demand from employers for training resources, Lipnic said, and the EEOC has been trying to keep up with the demand.

“[Workplace sexual harassment] has had an enormous amount of attention in the public,” she said. “But because this is an issue I had spent so much time on and cared about a great deal, we invested a lot of time and effort and work [in addressing it].”

But there is still work to be done. A SourceMedia survey earlier this year of 409 workplace and benefits professionals found that 70% of respondents either were aware that others were the subjects of unwelcome sexual conduct in the workplace or that they’ve witnessed such conduct themselves.

HR professionals told SourceMedia that changing workplace culture (75%) and increasing commitment from upper management (69%) were the keys to curbing sexual harassment.

Progress is being made, Lipnic said. The number of sexual harassment cases reported to the EEOC increased by 12% since fiscal year 2017 although overall the number of cases filed with the EEOC has decreased, she said. She credits this to the #MeToo movement making it easier for women to come forward and report abuse.

“I think that is largely evidence that people are willing to speak up,” she said.