OH NO! I NEVER EXPECTED THAT TO HAPPEN TO ME!

Several weeks ago I sent out a newsletter titled “Defending Against a Sexual Harassment Charge”. In that article I listed 5 things that all employers must do in order to potentially be successful at defending their organizations against a sexual harassment charge which was initiated by a current or former employee. Several days after that newsletter was distributed, I received a very nice email from a long time client. In her message she wrote the following:

"Dear Paul,
I am happy to report that due to your expert advice several years ago, we follow all of the points listed in your most recent newsletter. We had a major harassment claim last December and because we had followed all of the regulations and had trained everyone annually, we were able to successfully navigate this charge. The employment attorney who assisted us on this matter mentioned that we had done everything correctly.”

WOW! It is so satisfying to know that my advice helped an employer to follow the guidelines and avoid a major loss due to a sexual harassment charge. In 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received a total of 91,503 charges, of which approximately 27,000 (almost 30%) were sex related. A recent survey calculated that the average sexual harassment case costs the employer $150,000 to defend and that the average verdict in favor of the employee was $350,000.

Many times when I speak to employers about harassment and discrimination in the workplace, the comment that I most often here is “well, that can never happen to me”. I am sure that the lady who wrote the email above also thought that she would never be defending her company against a sexual harassment charge. But she found herself in exactly that position. Fortunately, she was prepared.

So, to all of my clients and potential clients who may be reading this, I sincerely wish that you never walk into your office and find a letter from the EEOC or the U.S. Department of Labor stating that your company is being sued for harassment, discrimination, overtime violations, independent contractor violations or any of the multitude of other federal or state laws which employers often unknowingly violate. I believe that it is a better business decision to be prepared with proper and well written Human Resources related policies and processes and never need them than to not be prepared and then realize that you should have developed appropriate policies, procedures and processes years ago.

A company’s best defense against the potential expense and aggravation related to federal or state law violations is to proactively review and revise as needed all Human Resources policies, handbooks, hiring procedures, compensation, benefits, training programs, communications tools and other functions. The professionals of PHHR are ready to assist your organization with this type of training as well as to maintain compliance with the latest state and federal mandates.

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Paul Hilton is a certified Human Resources Consultant, located in Columbia, SC.
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