Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Training

Our recommended best practice for employers is to provide our training to all new hires as part of their onboarding process into your organization and every year thereafter. Decisions around training such as ours often have legal ramifications, and we recommend you consult with your attorney to ensure you are doing what is right for your organization. Additionally, some jurisdictions legislate you must provide this to your employees on some form of regular cadence (e.g., every year, upon hire, etc.). Note, it is also a good idea to provide Supervisor training when a staff member is promoted to a supervisory role.

Some United States jurisdictions mandate you do this type of training within a certain number of days once they join your organization; this requirement varies from State to State. As a general principle, it is important to understand each day someone in your organization is untrained, you run an increased risk of issues that could impact your business.

Communicating to your employees that your organization does not permit workplace harassment has a lot of benefits. Further, the United States Supreme Court noted in their past rulings that employers who do not have a policy would not have certain affirmative defenses against a claim available to them.

You should check with your attorney. That said, a best practice is to report it according to your organization's complaint procedures. If you do not know your organization's policies or have access to them, report them to either your supervisor, a member of senior management, or a member of human resources.

There is an endless list of reasons discrimination should be prevented. For starters, it is the right thing to do. Some other reasons include sound risk management, better workplace productivity, increased employee retention, fewer negative distractions in the workplace, lower legal costs, fewer time distractions, etc.

This is a highly subjective question. At a minimum, anti-discrimination laws encourage employers to do what they can to eliminate discrimination in the workplace and provide an avenue for people who have been wronged to seek justice.