The drumbeat of press reports about harassment - sexual, gender, age, and other - in the workplace over the last few years has increased awareness among employees that workplace harassment is illegal and actionable, leading healthcare employers to brace for an anticipated increase in sexual harassment complaints. Harassment and discrimination (including gender, age, disability, religion, and racial workplace discrimination), workplace bullying, abusive conduct, and sexual harassment aren’t going anywhere. In fact, harassment is still one of the most common forms of employee misconduct. Employers can limit their liability exposure and damages markedly if they have harassment prevention programs and complaint avenues in place. Conducting effective workplace investigations is a critical component of any reliable system for proactively handling these challenging issues. Investigating harassment complaints is not something that healthcare facilities should improvise. Organizational leaders should take steps now to review and strengthen their internal processes and supervisory (and front-line employee) training so they can effectively respond to complaints, especially in light of recent public visibility and increased awareness of these issues.
Objectives:- Understand the damaging impact all forms of harassment have on victims, other staff, patients, and the facility.
- Define and differentiate among the many types of harassment, and learn how to recognize covert forms of harassment via email and the internet.
- Establish an easy-to-understand, proactive policy to prevent and report harassment, and then effectively take action to stop harassment and protect victims.
