This paper relates that sexual
harassment, not a new explosive phenomenon, has brought many court cases and problems of liability
to
employers; therefore, human resources departments need to establish standards of behavior of which that all employers are cognizant. The author points out that "hostile environment
harassment" is a situation in which the employer, a supervisor or co-worker, including both male-female and same-sex persons, does or says things, which makes the victim uncomfortable because of his or her sex. The paper stress that the first step an HR department must take is to create a written harassment policy, which is distributed and understood by every current employee, on every level including the CEO, and by every new hire before the hiring is finalized; this policy is then signed and retained in that employee's file. Table of Contents Overview What Sexual Harassment Is and Is Not? The Mine Field Employers Must Navigate Some Harassment Statistics Establishing a Harassment Policy Handling Complaints Training Quick Action A Persistent Problem Conclusion