Sexual Harassment Training

Regardless of whether you're based in New York City or California, employers must get on top of sexual harassment training; it's a top priority for all companies in the USA.

Our Sexual Harassment Training Template is designed to assist you in creating engaging and informative training, particularly if you're uncertain about where or how to begin. Our goal is to ensure that your employees remain attentive and take responsibility when it matters most.

What is sexual harassment training?

Before we get started, let's just break it down for a second and explain what sexual harassment training means. It's no surprise to hear that...

Many employees and managers aren't aware of what is regarded as sexual harassment, which is why training and education are crucial for all businesses. While all employees must be given sexual harassment prevention training, supervisors and managers are required for further training in handling if sexual harassment occurs in the workplace.

Sexual harassment can be defined as:

Any verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that either:

• affects an individual's employment
• interferes with an employees work performance
• creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment

Types of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment in the workplace can take various forms. It is essential to understand and recognize these different types to prevent and address them effectively. Here are some common types of sexual harassment at work:

Quid pro quo harassment: This type of harassment occurs when a person in a position of authority, such as a supervisor or manager, requests sexual favors or makes employment benefits conditional on sexual acts or compliance. It is a direct exchange of sexual favors for job opportunities or job security.

Hostile work environment: A hostile work environment is created when unwelcome sexual advances, comments, jokes, or other behaviors of a sexual nature create an intimidating, offensive, or hostile atmosphere. This can include explicit language, offensive imagery, or persistent, unwanted attention.

Sexual coercion: This involves pressuring or coercing an individual into engaging in sexual activities against their will, often with the implied or explicit threat of negative job consequences.

Unwanted sexual comments or advances: Inappropriate comments, gestures, or advances of a sexual nature that make a person feel uncomfortable or harassed fall into this category. These may include sexually suggestive jokes, comments on physical appearance, or unsolicited sexual propositions.

Cyber-harassment: With the rise of digital communication, harassment can extend to online platforms, email, or social media. Sending explicit or unsolicited sexual messages, images, or videos through these channels can constitute sexual harassment.

Gender-based harassment: Harassment based on a person's gender or gender identity, which may not involve explicit sexual content but still creates a hostile work environment, is considered a form of sexual harassment.

Retaliation: When an employee reports or resists sexual harassment and experiences negative consequences as a result, it is considered retaliation. Retaliation can take the form of job loss, demotion, or other adverse actions.

Sexual harassment by clients, customers, or third parties: It's not limited to employees; sexual harassment can also come from clients, customers, vendors, or others external to the organization. Employers have a responsibility to address this as well.

Harassment of LGBTQ+ individuals: Harassment targeting individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is a form of sexual harassment that falls under the broader category of workplace discrimination.

It's essential for employers to have clear anti-sexual harassment policies and procedures in place to prevent and address these issues. Employees should be educated about their rights and encouraged to report any incidents of harassment promptly. Workplace culture should promote respect, diversity, and inclusion to prevent sexual harassment from occurring in the first place.

Transforming sexual harassment training

In light of the #metoo movement, traditional methods of sexual harassment training needed an overhaul. You no longer need to only teach the laws and rules for what is and isn't acceptable in the workplace. However, employees and supervisors need to know what to do if they are subjected to, or witness misconduct in the workplace. More importantly, sexual harassment prevention needs to be addressed.

Workplace sexual harassment training is a topic that isn't taken lightly. Knowing exactly when to speak up and learning how to respond to harassment shows integrity and respect for your colleagues. Let's make sure your company is only fuelled by excellent members of staff who would never cross the line or ruin the company's reputation.

Sexual Harassment Training in California & New York

In January 2021, California changed the law that now requires all businesses with five or more employees to conduct at least two hours of sexual harassment training for every member of staff within their first six months of joining the company and re-training every two years.

Sexual harassment training in California is split up into two sections as a state requirement:

1. At least one hour of sexual harassment training
2. At least one hour of education and abusive conduct prevention training

If you're conducting the employee training, you'll need to take sexual harassment prevention training yourself before training your employees.

Although it might sound like an overwhelming job that you don't really have a lot of time to commit to right now, once you have completed your sexual harassment training, you can simply use our Sexual Harassment Training Template to help guide you build your online training course for the rest of your workforce.

If you're based in New York, understand that every employer in New York State must have a sexual harassment policy in place.

How to use our Sexual Harassment Training Template

At Coassemble, our team is led by some of the best training experts in the eLearning industry. With insanely good designers who have taken the stress away from you having even to contemplate how to build a Sexual Harassment Training Template, we've done it for you.

Our online training templates are a bit different from others you'll find on the internet. You see, we want your employees to be engaged in their training, so they're not hitting the next button while mindlessly doing something else. These templates will not only enhance the visual appeal of your content but also make it engaging to the extent that your staff will genuinely enjoy the training materials you provide.

We've built a Sexual Harassment Training Template for you to use, or if you prefer, you could start your course from scratch.