Companies in the state of Utah are responsible for providing a safe working environment, where their employees are treated with dignity and respect. Employees have a right to a fair workplace environment, without the fear of harassment discrimination or retaliation issues. This includes both fellow employees & the company executives and managers.
Workplace discrimination of any kind is against the law in today’s society The EEOC, a federal agency, & Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits any type of workplace sexual harassment based on the employee’s race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability or gender. Employers in the state of Utah are required to post educational & preventive material to increase workplace awareness.
Sexual Harassment & Discrimination
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) provides the following information regarding sexual harassment:
It is against the law to harass a person because of that person’s sex. Harassment can include, unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, Quid pro quo, unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not always have to be of a sexual nature. Lewd off-color jokes, cyber harassment, and discrimination are all against the law.
Employment discrimination is unfairly treating an employee differently from fellow employees, or groups of other people at work. Employees are in a legally protected environment, firmly prohibiting harassment, or discrimination such as race, sex, age, disability, or religion. The purpose of the Utah Antidiscrimination Act is to protect workers in Utah from unlawful discrimination in employment.
Provo Utah pays $750k in sexual harassment case
Last year, a former police chief was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct and harassment. These allegations tarnished the good name of the city of Provo and its police force, cost the city more than $750k in damages and court costs and, most importantly, caused those four women, whom where volunteers, to feel victimized in a place where they should have felt safe. City officials have cited a lack of proper sexual harassment training among the police force as the primary reason for the incident. We believe the city officials are absolutely correct in their assessment. We also believe that proper sexual harassment training comes from the experience of the training professionals themselves.
As we’ve said many times before, sexual harassment training needs to come from the top down. CEOs, Owners, and even police chiefs should not be dismissed from undergoing the same sexual harassment training that every other employee goes through. In fact, many sexual harassment experts suggest those at the top of the company or organization should not only be trained on basic sexual harassment laws, definitions, and prevention but should also learn how to mediate sexual harassment claims and disputes among their co-workers. This type of advanced training promotes a workplace environment where the sexual harassment rules are upfront and open.
If your company needs sexual harassment or harassment training in Utah, click here to see Employee Harassment Training’s Utah trainers.
