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The organization and the employer has the responsibility of maintaining a safe and comfortable working atmosphere for the employees who work under them. They must take at most care of their worker's preferences and must always be available for the workers to communicate with. This is the main requirement to reduce sexual harassment in a workplace. In a friendly working condition, the employee will be more free to share everything with their co-workers as well as superiors. This work space alone can curb sexual harassment in the workplace.
Steps to be taken by supervisors and managers :
The managers can take an regular tour of the office space in order to inspect the workers behavior. He can also take note on the presence of any offensive images or posters in the workspaces and remove them wisely.
As managers and supervisors are the immediate superiors to the employees, any complaints regarding any mishap will reach them initially before it is being forwarded to the higher authorities. Hence, in case they receive any sexual harassment reports, it is wise of them to consider it very seriously and never neglect the complaint by the employees. Managers must themselves maintain professional conduct at all times for the employees to feel comfortable around them.
The procedure to file a complaint and the person to contact in case of sexual harassment must be put up on a common notice board or bulletin board. The managers must make sure that this information reaches everyone under their department. These information must also be available in alternative languages for the convenience of the employees. The official web site of the company must always hold information about the company policies relating to prevention of sexual harassment for easy access.
Steps to be taken by the organizational board :
Higher level management support is the most important aspect when it comes to framing the laws on sexual harassment and also on implementing them. Thus, the board members must show their at most support while framing the policies and laws.
Sexual harassment prevention and prohibition policy must be made mandatory in every organization. The rules under this policy must be framed up on consultation with the unions and workers and must be made feasible for everyone in the organization. These policies must be verbally communicated with the employees in the meetings. The organization must encourage reiteration of these policies by the supervisors and managers in every small level meetings also.
Regular training sessions must be conducted for the employees to create awareness on sexual harassment. Every person in the organization must be advised to take an oath to abide by the company policies. Intolerance for sexual harassment must be made obvious for reduction of misbehavior. Action must be taken against the harasser and fair justice must be provided for the victim. This will alone restore the lost balance in the organization and will stand as a strong pillar of support in the future.
