Make Your Harassment Policy Transparent

Harassment policies should clearly outline your organization’s goals for promoting a safe and welcoming workplace. A clear plan and guiding documents help set appropriate procedures to safeguard the organization and its employees. Effective policies should educate employees, state that accusations are taken seriously, and outline that allegations of harassment are investigated thoroughly.

Bold Policies Protect People and Ministries

Many Christian ministries want to take a bold stance against sexual harassment in the workplace. The damage that can result in terms of personal, professional, legal, reputational, and moral, can destroy a Christian organization, such as a church, school, or college. Effective written policies are a baseline from which a culture of transparency and accountability flourishes.

Develop Effective Policies

Developing effective policies begins with a clear definition of harassment. Even if it seems intuitive, it’s important to state clearly the types of behaviors that are not acceptable.

“An effective harassment policy should educate and train employees to recognize and report. Encouraging employees to report, backs up your statement that it won’t be tolerated,” said Kathleen Turpin, vice president, human resources at Brotherhood Mutual.

Sexual harassment exists when submission to the conduct is a condition of employment (stated or implied), is used for making employment decisions, substantially interferes with work performance, or creates an intimidating or hostile work environment.

An effective sexual harassment policy should:

  • Define sexual harassment—unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex  (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or  older), disability, or genetic information that:

    • Becomes a condition of continued employment

    • Is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive

  • Provide examples of sexual harassment.

    • Unwelcome sexual advances (visual, verbal, or physical)

    • Requests for favors

    • Other conduct of a sexual nature (verbal or physical) including offensive behavior

    • Gender-based harassment of a person of the same or opposite sex as the harasser

  • State that harassment will not be tolerated.

  • Clearly outline reporting procedures—it’s good policy to have both a male and female available for handling employee reports.

  • Encourage employees to report any harassment— this tells employees you want to know so you can work together to make it better.

  • Explain the investigation process—the policy should state that allegations are taken seriously and investigated, if warranted.

  • Protect those who report from retaliation.

  • Discuss disciplinary action—if harassment is found, disciplinary measures should take place. Depending on the findings, discipline can include clarification of rules/definitions up to and including termination.

Understand and Clarify Harassment

With sexual harassment, it can start as a misunderstanding as to what behavior is acceptable. “We’re hesitant to discuss this in ministry because we’re dealing with male/female boundaries and it can be confrontational, which is uncomfortable. We need to create a culture where if something makes an employee feel uncomfortable, they can talk about it with human resources,” said Turpin.

How to Handle Allegations

When an investigation does need to take place, ministries should do a proper, unbiased investigation. Document all the evidence.

Be intentional and methodical. Turpin emphasizes, that if a ministry mishandles an investigation, it will get out and people will doubt the system.

When dealing with an allegation of sexual harassment, don’t tell people who don’t need to know. “While you can’t promise absolute confidentiality, you should limit those who know as much as possible,” said Turpin.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT: LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS

Courts consider multiple factors when determining whether sexual harassment occurred:

  • Frequency of conduct
  • Severity
  • Whether conduct is physically threatening or humiliating
  • Whether conduct unreasonably interferes with an employee’s ability to perform work
  • The totality of circumstances

A key element of sexual harassment is that the behavior must be unwelcome.

As one court stated:

In the day-to-day social exchange between employees, “the distinction between invited, uninvited-but-welcome, offensive but-tolerated, and flatly rejected” sexual advances may well be difficult to discern. Barnes v. Costle, 561 F.2d 983, 999, 14 EPD 7755 (D.C. Cir. 1977) (MacKinnon J., concurring). It’s important to note this distinction because only when it is unwelcome does sexual conduct become unlawful.

A Higher Expectation

In addition to staying within the legal boundaries for sexual harassment, there are higher expectations about the behavior of people who are involved within ministry.

What may be acceptable or “permissible” under the law, may still be unwise or harmful in a Christian organization.

Free online training for employees and supervisors

Brotherhood Mutual has free Sexual Harassment Prevention online education available. While it is designed for employees in California, it is being offered to ministries in all states. You are encouraged to refer to your state’s specific harassment prevention web page or your local attorney for guidance as to the training requirements of your state. Additionally, your state’s harassment prevention web page may outline the timing and frequency of harassment prevention training. For example, some states require training to be provided shortly after hire and once every two years, but your state may vary. We encourage you to speak with a locally licensed attorney if you have specific questions about what your state requires. CONTINUE ON TO ONLINE TRAINING PAGE.

Sample Employee Handbook Policy

We have a sample policy addressing harassment in our microsite Working Together: An Employment Guide for Christian Employers. You can use it to check against your existing policy or to develop a policy from scratch. Be sure to check with your local attorney before implementing or making changes to your policy. SEE SAMPLE POLICY.


Related Resources

Posted January 2019. Updated September 2021.

The information provided in this article is intended to be helpful, but it does not constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for the advice from a licensed attorney in your area. We strongly encourage you to regularly consult with a local attorney as part of your risk management program.