Employment Law

Develop a 3–5-page workplace harassment policy for either Java Corp. or an organization you are familiar with. Create a 6–10-slide PowerPoint presentation with speaker’s notes to present the new policy and to support it with legal and strategic rationale for the selected organization’s upper management.

HR professionals are often called upon to develop new workplace policies to increase an organization’s effectiveness and to protect from possible legal liabilities. Creating a succinct and comprehensive presentation for organizational management and other stakeholders is a valuable skill to possess.

SHOW LESS

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Apply human resource strategies to business needs. 
  • Develop an anti-harassment workplace policy. 
• Competency 2: Analyze core functions of human resource management. 
  • Explain the legal basis for protecting employees from harassment.
  • Explain other types of harassment to consider in a workplace policy.
  • Articulate the steps that can be taken to best legally protect the selected organization.
  • Analyze organizational benefits realized by the anti-harassment policy’s approach.
• Competency 4: Communicate effectively in a scholarly and professional manner. 
  • Describe the types of sexual harassment found in the workplace.
  • Write in a professional style using APA citations and format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Preparation

For this assessment, research sexual harassment and other forms of unlawful workplace harassment. Using one of the scenarios below, consider best practices and approaches for developing an anti-harassment workplace policy. A minimum of seven resources are required to support your approach to the new policy as well as your legal and strategic rationale.

Scenario

For this assessment, choose either option 1 or 2. You do not need to do both. You will apply one of these scenarios in the Instructions below. Both options will be graded using the same scoring guide.

Option 1

You are the new HR manager for Java Corp. The company has just lost a sexual harassment lawsuit and damages included back pay, front pay, punitive damages, and attorneys fees. The plaintiff, Ms. Stapel, was a female manager who had a consensual sexual relationship with her male boss, Mr. Rowe. Both moved up in title and responsibility over the past 5 years. After the relationship ended, Mr. Rowe made several offensive comments to coworkers without Ms. Stapel being present and later, a number of other employees made offensive sexual comments directly to Ms. Stapel.

The company had a harassment policy but only referred someone who felt harassed to their immediate supervisor and provided no other avenues of complaint. Your first project for Java Corp. is to create a formal policy that will protect employees, the organization, and all stakeholders.

Option 2

Choose an organization to use for this assessment. It can be where you are currently employed or a company with which you are familiar. It must be an organization that is researchable, as you will need to gather and analyze information to complete the assessment. You may use the same organization for the other assessments.

If you choose the organization where you are currently employed, please keep in mind that the analyses you make must be based on facts that can be documented rather than your personal opinion as an employee.

Research the sexual and workplace harassment policies of the chosen organization.

Contact your faculty if you have questions. 

Instructions

Based on your research of sexual harassment and other forms of unlawful workplace harassment, complete the following:

• Develop an anti-harassment workplace policy that includes the following components: 
  • Objective.
  • Prohibited conduct under this policy, including discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, and retaliation.
  • Confidentiality.
  • Complaint procedure.
• Prepare a PowerPoint presentation for upper management, including the following: 
  • Explain the legal basis for protecting employees from harassment.
  • Describe the types of sexual harassment found in the workplace. 
    • Quid pro quo.
    • Hostile work environment.
  • Explain other types of harassment to consider in a workplace policy.
  • Articulate the steps that can be taken to best legally protect the selected organization. 
    • How sound are your reporting and investigation procedures?
  • Analyze organizational benefits realized by the anti-harassment policy’s approach. 
    • Consider reputation, employee morale, retention, and productivity.

Additional Requirements

Policy

This part of your assessment should also meet the following requirements:

• Length: 3–5 pages. Strive to be as detailed as possible in addressing each of the policy’s components above.
• Written communication: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly and professional. Your writing should be: 
  • Concise and logically organized.
  • Free of errors in grammar and mechanics.
• Resources: If you use a source in the text of your policy, you need to reference it. The last page of your policy should be your reference list. Format all citations and references in accordance with current APA guidelines.