The more recent employee awareness and heightened sensitivity toward what constitutes harassment and discrimination in the workplace has lead to a sharp increase in claims initiated by employees.
As an employer, you can not control the actions and the behaviors of every individual employee; however, you can put certain procedures in place to minimize the risk.
Clear reporting processes
Problems will always arise in any workplace, especially in relation to sexual harassment or discrimination. One of the most important factors in being able to properly manage this is to make sure that any employee that has had a negative experience knows the exact procedure in which to take things further. If they do not know the correct internal procedure, it is more likely that they will file a claim instead.
Zero-tolerance policies
Employers should also clearly communicate with their employees on what type of behavior is not tolerated in a working environment. If a zero-tolerance policy is embedded within the company culture, it will make it less likely for an incident to occur, or for any employee to feel as though he or she is in a hostile environment.
Good training
Employees need to know in a deeper way what discrimination truly is, and they can be better equipped to know this through training. There are many providers of anti-discrimination training and coaching that can help with this.
As an employer, it is essential for your business that you prevent harassment and discrimination claims as much as you can. It will have a great impact on your working culture and on the bottom line if you can prevent it successfully.
Source: i-Sight, “6 Tips to avoid harassment and discrimination claims,” accessed Dec. 08, 2017