The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature [that] explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.”
Employers are obligated to ensure a safe, productive, non-hostile work environment. The Sexual Harassment is Illegal Poster can be used as a tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. The poster explains:
- the definition of sexual harassment,
- examples of sexual harassment,
- how to prevent sexual harassment, and
- the complaint process.
Government Code sections: 12940 (a), (h), and (i) state that “an employer may be liable even if management was not aware of the harassment from occurring.” If an employer fails to take preventative measures, the employer can be held liable for the harassment. It is therefore crucial to clearly communicate to all employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated.