Sexual harassment training for part-time or seasonal staff - Tip-Off

Parks & Recreation, July, 2003 by Juliene Hefter

What is sexual harassment, and how do we educate our younger part-time or seasonal staff members to recognize and handle sexual harassment in the workplace? Every organization and supervisor is at risk for a lawsuit when it comes to sexual harassment in the workplace. To be better prepared to handle these situations when they arise, we must educate our staff on how their behavior affect the working environment. Many organizations have a sexual-harassment policy for their full-time stafF, but many do not include specialized educational sessions for younger, seasonal staff. This tends to cause confusion to our younger staff as to what sexual harassment actually is and how they can prevent it or stop it from happening.

When developing sexual-harassment training for your seasonal staff, you must make sure that you're able to communicate the information to them at a level that interests them and that they're easily able to understand. Informing them of the legal definition of sexual harassment and the history of sexual harassment won't make them understand what constitutes sexual harassment. When discussing sexual harassment with this group, it's important to incorporate it into the pre-season training that you provide. Whether it be included with your CPR, first aid, blood-borne pathogens or job-specific training, it must be addressed.

Begin your training session with a discussion of the differences between sexually harassing behaviors versus what they view as flirtatious behaviors. This type of activity will allow you to see how they perceive the two types of behaviors. You'll be surprised to see how many behaviors will be present in both groups. The next step can then be to discuss the major differences between these behaviors, and how flirting can change into sexually harassing behavior. When discussing sexual harassment, it's imperative that you give specific examples of what constitutes sexual harassment. Such examples should include touching (any part of the body), verbal comments, name-calling, spreading sexual rumors, staring, sexual or "dirty" jokes, cartoons, pictures, pornography, computer use for sexual messages, graffiti or games, gestures with hands or body, pressure for sexual activity, conversations that are too personal, and others. The most important thing for your staff to realize is that any action that may be offensive to the individual or to individuals observing the action can be considered sexual harassment.

Throughout your training program, you must stress that even though someone may feel as if they're flirting, the only thing that matters is how the person on the receiving end perceives the behavior. The law protects the victim. It's the victim's perception that counts. Organizations in which sexual harassment is most likely to occur are those with one or more of the following situations: if there's no sexual harassment policy and procedure, or one exists but isn't supported or given out; if there's inadequate or no investigation of complaints; if jobs are traditionally all male or female; if there are no consequences for harassers; and if there's no formal training in sexual harassment.

Inform your staff that both genders can be victims, and what they should do if it happens to them. Inform them that they should follow the sexual-harassment policy and procedure that's used by your workplace. If you don't have one, develop one. They should never blame themselves because sexual harassment is an unwanted behavior that the harasser makes the decision to take. The victim shouldn't delay action; let them know what actions to take if they feel they are being harassed. Those actions are:

* Know their rights.

* Speak up immediately.

* Document the instances of harassment.

* Identify someone to assist them (supervisor or co-worker).

* Write a letter to their supervisor or anagement regarding the harassment.

* Report sexual harassment to the appropriate person in the organization.

As a supervisor of part-time or seasonal staff, there are two conditions you should be aware of that determine liability for employers: if the employer knew or should have known about the harassment, or if the employer failed to take appropriate action or corrective action. An employer will be expected to know about the hostile environment if there was a complaint to management, if management failed to establish a policy against sexual harassment or if the harassment is openly practiced or well-known among employees.

Protect yourself, your organization and your staff by providing an informational session regarding sexual harassment and discuss with them what actually constitutes sexual harassment. Do not tolerate sexual harassment within your organization. If a complaint is filed, listen, investigate and support the employee that is being harassed. Take the appropriate action to ensure that it won't continue. Through the proper education and training, you'll be able to offer a working environment that's safe and enjoyable for everyone.--Juliene Hefter, CPRP, Park and Recreation Director, Germantown, Wis.