The EEOC announced this week that it is launching training programs to help employers foster respectful, inclusive work environments. The EEOC Training Institute is offering to send trainers into your workplace and lead separate modules for supervisors and employees. Supervisor training titled “Leading for Respect” is a four-hour program; the one for all employees, “Respect in the Workplace,” is a three-hour program. This week’s announcement culminates a long inquiry into workplace harassment. In January 2015, the EEOC formed the Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace, which released its findings last summer — right around the same time as a series of high-profile sexual harassment lawsuits occurred. The Select Task Force determined that most compliance training focuses on legal definitions and standards. So, the EEOC’s new program promises to provide an “exciting training alternative for harassment prevention,” including
- reviewing acceptable conduct
- teaching how to create respectful workplaces
- providing tools for responding to harassing conduct
- teaching bystanders when and how to intervene