The construction industry has long been the subject of scrutiny by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with regard to sexual and other harassment issues. Several unique features of constructions sites make prevention and detection of workplace harassment problematic. These include the decentralized nature of many construction sites, workplaces that are often male-dominated, and the presence of multiple employers on the same property. The EEOC says that these issues have contributed to systemic harassment and recruiting problems for many companies within the industry.
Last week, the EEOC released "Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry." This document is the result of roundtable discussions held among the EEOC, construction industry employers, unions, and other interested parties. It contains a list of best practices for preventing and addressing workplace harassment, such as specialized harassment policies, ways to involve top management in emphasizing the importance of compliance, and training and complaint mechanisms designed for the nature of construction worksites.
These recommendations are not regulations, and failure to implement them is not evidence that the employer tolerated a hostile and offensive work environment. However, employers in the construction industry may want to review the recommendations to determine if any of the identified measures make sense for their organizations, and can help improve their harassment prevention efforts.
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