Sexual harassment in the workplace and what it means for your California based business.

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Google, seen by many as a pioneer in the endeavor to put employee rights at the forefront of their culture, has been thrust into the limelight once more. Basically, employees went on strike claiming that Google had covered up an allegation of sexual harassment and has not been forthcoming with the staff at Google in regards to how the situation/investigation was handled (links for more information on this topic located at the bottom of this blog). The CEO of Google later issued an apology to all Google staff stating they would be implementing new policies ensuring that sexual harassment would be dealt with properly in the future.

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What is Google going to do?

Google issued a statement explaining how it plans to handle sexual harassment claims going forward which includes… 1) Arbitration is now optional instead of mandatory, 2) policies will be made more public to employees (transparency), and 3) “create an investigations practice guide and publish it internally so employees understand how the company handles concerns”.

How will this affect you?

As a California business owner, you can expect to see more companies coming forward with new strategies and polices concerning sexual harassment. Governor Brown has already passed new laws concerning the area of harassment that will take effect in 2019 (see my blog on these changes here). You need to be prepared for how this will trickle down into your business because it absolutely will.

What steps are you taking in your workplace to stop sexual harassment?

Recommended reading:

https://www.dailywire.com/news/37898/heres-what-worldwide-google-walkout-about-james-barrett

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2018/10/31/googlers-walk-out-over-sexual-harassment-here-are-the-lessons-for-google/#5ce67267cdb9