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Workplace Harassment Training is Essential for Small and Large Businesses

The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) is in the process of creating a new task force to prevent and address the issue of workplace harassment.
The newly sworn in Commissioner of the EEOC commented that:

"The EEOC is working to leverage our resources to have a greater impact on the persistent problem of workplace harassment," said Yang. "By identifying underlying problems in workplaces and industries where we see recurring patterns of harassment, we are developing strategies that focus on targeted outreach and education as well as systemic enforcement to promote broader voluntary compliance."
Small business owners need to be aware that the EEOC will be looking with equal force at employers across industries, and they need to be sure that they take precautionary measures to educate themselves and their employees on the nature of harassment and discrimination.




Many employers may not be aware that they are responsible, and their supervisors are responsible, for ensuring that there is no harassment or discrimination in the workplace for their employees, and that includes any form of external harassment or discrimination by clients, vendors or suppliers to their employees especially if they have been made aware of this behavior. 



While many states require employers to conduct Harassment Training this is not the case in Maryland, although when examining a case of sexual harassment, the Maryland Commission on Human Relations will favorably review any preventative steps taken such as training, information dissemination and discussions.


There are a number of great resources online to guide employers as to what steps they can take such as BizFilings.com as well as the EEOC website which defines different kinds of discrimination, and links to useful regulation and guidance.
At Namaqua Consulting we offer Respectful Workplace Training for management and employees, as well as Harassment and Discrimination Complaint Investigation.  








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