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Fast paced business lifestyles and encroaching deadlines can cause undue stress upon employees. But amongst these many stressors, the biggest hindrance to productivity is sexual harassment. Sexual harassment claims can be damaging to employee trust and organizational reputation. Strong corporate laws can help deal with even the most heinous of situations in an effective and sensitive manner.

Here are 10 steps to ensure that you are not only in legal compliance with sexual harassment policies, but also able to put your employees at ease.

1. Get Legal Counsel Corporate lawyers are well versed with the intricacies of organisational harassment claims and can help guide your redressal process smoothly. What’s more, their policy of attorney client confidentiality can also help the victim in question feel more comfortable sharing details and taking legal advice.
2. Inform Management It is important to immediately bring the claim to the attention of your company’s board of directors. Remember that the board of directors hold major responsibility for their employees’ safety.

1. Show Respect Maintain a professional tone throughout the proceedings. Do not cast aspersions on either victim or perpetrator until findings come to light, and even then maintain a respectful tone.

1. ICC For any organization above 10 employees, an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is a mandated part of corporate law. This committee will be in charge of investigating the sexual harassment claim and recommending appropriate action to higher ups.

1. Resolution After conducting a thorough investigation through your ICC, it is time to take action.
   • If the claim is found to be true, the perpetrator should be reprimanded through methods such as HR harassment seminars, suspension of pay, an official police complaint or termination depending on the severity of the incident and company policy. The victim should also be compensated for the same, through bonus pay, time off and free legal advice as necessary.
   • If the claim is found to be untrue, both victim and perpetrator should be treated with respect. The victim may need to be admonished, but remember not to overly retaliate as this too can lead to additional legal complications.
2. Disclosure Disclosure of the incident, steps taken to resolve it and steps taken to further prevent such actions in the future all need to be included in the annual Board of Directors’ report to maintain legal compliance with the recently amended Sexual Harassment Act.
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4. Sensitive Communications Such situations are often hotspots for gossip and rumors. Be sure to inform employees and managers alike to maintain a respectful tone in all email or text communications.
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6. Documentation For legal purposes, it is necessary to maintain complete documentation of the process from claim to resolution. Corporate compliance lawyers may need these transcripts for legal proceedings if the situation reaches so far.
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8. Insurance Claims Certain insurance providers cover sexual harassment claims. Be sure to consult your provider and enquire about the same.
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10. Prevention Educate employees about sexual harassment policies to prevent similar instances from occurring again in the future

For additional information on corporate law and legal compliances, feel free to head over to the Lawyered site here