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Creating a Strong Sexual Harassment Policy
Policy Foundation and Coverage
Behavior Covered by the Policy
A strong sexual harassment policy sets a clear conduct standard employees can follow and supervisors can enforce. It should start with a direct rule that bans sexual harassment and other sex-based harassment in specific terms, then moves straight into concrete examples.
Examples of conduct the policy should prohibit:
Sexual jokes or sexual comments in a work setting.
Sexual comments about a coworker’s body.
Repeated requests for dates after a clear no.
Unwanted touching or forced physical contact.
Sexual images or pornographic content sent through work email or chat tools.
Hostile conduct tied to pregnancy or related work restrictions.
Hostile conduct tied to lactation needs.
Slurs or hostile conduct tied to sexual orientation or gender identity, including intentional misgendering used to harass.
Who the Policy Covers
Sexual harassment policies should lay out exactly who they cover so HR can act on a report without pausing to decide whether the rules apply.
Covered people and situations
Applicants during recruiting and interviews, since harassment can occur before hire.
Interns, temporary workers, contractors, and vendor personnel when work places them on-site or inside company teams.
Harassment by customers or other third parties when the nature of the company’s work puts employees in contact with non-employees, with reports routed through the same internal channels used for employee reports.
Definitions and Examples
Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Environment
Guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and hostile environment. Employers should include both definitions in sexual harassment policies so employees and supervisors know which facts are significant in a report.
Quid Pro Quo: An employee faces a job consequence for refusing unwelcome sexual conduct, or receives a job benefit only by submitting to it.
Example: A supervisor offers an employee better shifts in exchange for sexual attention, then cuts the employee’s shifts after she refuses.
Hostile Environment: An employee faces unwelcome sexual conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
Example: A coworker keeps making sexual comments after an employee objects, and the conduct affects day-to-day work interactions.
Other Definitions Employers Add
Employers should include definitions in a sexual harassment policy to clarify what the policy prohibits and set clear expectations for what happens after someone reports a concern.
Important definitions include:
Retaliation: An employee faces a job consequence because the employee reported sexual harassment or took part in the company’s internal investigation.
Example: A manager cuts an employee’s hours after the employee confirms a coworker’s account during a sexual harassment investigation.
Confidentiality Limits: An employee should expect limited privacy during a sexual harassment investigation because HR has to interview witnesses and review records to assess what happened.
Example: HR shares information only with people who need it to run the investigation and carry out corrective action, and HR interviews coworkers who saw the conduct.
Non-Employee Harassment: An employee faces sexual harassment from a client, customer, vendor, or other third party during work.
Example: A customer directs sexual comments at an employee during a service call.
Policy Scope and Where It Applies
Scope draws the boundary lines for the policy. Employees need a clear signal that the policy applies to work-connected interactions wherever they occur. Even conduct outside work can still come under the policy when it carries into the workplace and interferes with someone’s ability to work.
In-Person Conduct in Work Settings
In-person harassment can happen anywhere employees perform job duties, so the policy should cover all in-person work settings the company uses. It should apply at job sites and client locations, and it should also apply during off-site meetings and training, with conferences and business travel tied to job duties treated the same way.
Electronic Communication and Online Conduct
Harassment over electronic channels carries the same workplace and business risks for employers as in-person harassment, so a sexual harassment policy should address it explicitly. It should prohibit harassment through company email, chat platforms, collaboration tools, and video conferencing. It should also prohibit off-platform conduct, including harassment through personal accounts or on social media, when it targets coworkers or affects professional interactions.
Off-Duty Conduct That Affects the Workplace
Sexual harassment in a non-work-related context can still create employer liability when it carries into the workplace and contributes to a hostile work environment. Coworker conduct outside work can contribute to a hostile work environment when the targeted employee returns to work and has to keep working with the same coworkers who engaged in the conduct. Electronic conduct outside work can also create a hostile work environment, for example, when a coworker posts sexually harassing content on a personal social media account and coworkers see the post and discuss it at work.
Reporting Options and Confidentiality Limits
Reporting Channels Beyond the Supervisor
Policies that provide multiple avenues for employees to report sexual harassment give employees a reporting route that does not require the direct supervisor when the supervisor took part in the behavior or does not pass the report to HR. Policies with more than one reporting route also help when a supervisor is unavailable, since a delay can leave the employee stuck working around the same conduct without a clear path to HR.
Named Contacts With Direct Phone and Email
Employers should name the primary recipient for sexual harassment reports and identify an alternate recipient employees can use when the primary person is unavailable or involved. Employers should list a direct phone number and email address for each recipient, so employees can report without asking a manager where to go. A policy can also note that employees may report in writing or orally, since a report should not depend on access to a form.
Anonymous Reporting Options
Anonymous and online reporting options let employees report harassment without putting their name on the report right away, which enables reporting when employees expect retaliation or workplace blowback. A policy can ask for employees to divulge just enough detail to allow follow-up, including dates, locations, names, and any message records or screenshots connected to the report.
Be Clear About Confidentiality Limits
Employers should explain confidentiality limits in plain terms by stating that the company shares information only with people who need it to evaluate the report and take action, since sexual harassment investigations require witness interviews and review of relevant messages or documents. A policy should also avoid promising secrecy, since HR may need to speak with the accused employee and other employees who saw the conduct.
Investigation Language
Intake and Initial Assessment
A sexual harassment policy should explain who follows up after a report so employees know the report reached the right place. The intake and initial assessment subsection can describe the first steps HR takes, like confirming receipt and documenting what the employee reports, along with collecting any records the employee already has. HR may need to gather information beyond the first report, which can include interviews and review of messages or other records, so the policy should avoid promising a fixed timeline but still state that HR starts investigations as soon as reasonably possible after receiving a report.
Interim Protections
A policy can authorize temporary protections that stop contact between the reporting employee and the accused employee during an investigation, without treating the reporting employee like the problem. Temporary protections might include schedule adjustments, work location changes, reporting-line changes, or a direction from HR that the accused employee stop contacting the reporting employee.
Evidence Preservation
Employers should include a section on evidence so employees understand what information may support a complaint and how to preserve it. It should tell employees to save any messages or screenshots tied to the reported conduct when they exist, and to write down the date, time window, and location of the reported conduct, along with the names of any potential witnesses. It should also state that an employee can still report without records or witnesses, since the employee’s account is part of the evidence HR evaluates.
Turning a Written Policy Into Day-to-Day Practice
A sexual harassment policy only works when employees can find it, supervisors follow it, and HR runs the same process each time a report comes in. Distribution needs to reach every employee and every work location, with a simple way to confirm receipt and keep a current copy accessible. Company sexual harassment training needs to focus on the pressure points that trigger employer exposure, including same-day escalation, avoiding side conversations with witnesses, preserving records, and keeping schedules and assignments stable after a report. Training should also use scenarios tied to your workplace, including customer-facing conduct and electronic communications, so supervisors recognize the conduct and respond consistently.
Get Counsel on Policy Drafting, Rollout, and Training
Conn Maciel Carey LLP’s national Labor & Employment group counsels employers on drafting and updating sexual harassment policies that fit the way work actually happens, align with current requirements, and hold up when a report comes in. Reach out to discuss a policy review, a template update tailored to your workforce, or a full rollout plan that aligns reporting, investigations, and training.
Sample Sexual Harassment Policy Template
DISCLAIMER: This sample sexual harassment policy template is provided for general informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Federal, state, and local laws may affect how workplace harassment policies must be written and applied. Employers should consult with in-house counsel or qualified legal professionals to review, adapt, and approve this policy before use.
Conn Maciel Carey, LLP assumes no responsibility for any outcomes related to use or implementation of this sample template.
Policy Statement
[INSERT COMPANY NAME] prohibits sexual harassment and other sex-based harassment.
Coverage
This policy applies to employees, applicants during recruiting and interviews, interns, temporary workers, contractors, and vendor personnel when work places them on-site or inside company teams. This policy also applies to harassment by customers, clients, vendors, and other third parties when work puts employees in contact with nonemployees.
Where the Policy Applies
This policy applies in work-connected settings, including worksites, remote work, job sites, client locations, work travel tied to job duties, and work-sponsored events tied to job duties. This policy applies to conduct through company systems, including email, chat platforms, collaboration tools, and video meetings. Sexual harassment in a nonwork-related context can fall under this policy when it carries into the workplace and contributes to a hostile work environment.
Definitions
Guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and hostile environment.
Quid Pro Quo: An employee faces a job consequence for refusing unwelcome sexual conduct, or receives a job benefit only by submitting to it.
Example: A supervisor offers an employee better shifts in exchange for sexual attention, then cuts the employee’s shifts after the employee refuses.
Hostile Environment: An employee faces unwelcome sexual conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. Example: A coworker keeps making sexual comments after an employee objects, and the conduct affects day-to-day work interactions.
Retaliation: An employee faces a job consequence because the employee reported sexual harassment or took part in [INSERT COMPANY NAME]’s internal investigation.
Confidentiality Limits: An employee should expect limited privacy during a sexual harassment investigation because HR interviews witnesses and reviews records to assess what happened.
Non-Employee Harassment: An employee faces sexual harassment from a client, customer, vendor, or other third party during work.
Prohibited Conduct
Prohibited conduct can include sexual jokes or sexual comments in a work setting, sexual comments about a coworker’s body, repeated requests for dates after a clear no, unwanted touching or forced physical contact, sexual images or pornographic content sent through work email or chat tools, hostile conduct tied to pregnancy or related work restrictions, hostile conduct tied to lactation needs, and slurs or hostile conduct tied to sexual orientation or gender identity, including intentional misgendering used to harass.
Reporting Options
Reports may be made orally or in writing. Reports may be made to any of the contacts below.
Primary Contact: [INSERT NAME / TITLE]
Phone: [INSERT PHONE]
Email: [INSERT EMAIL]
Alternate Contact: [INSERT NAME / TITLE]
Phone: [INSERT PHONE]
Email: [INSERT EMAIL]
Anonymous Reporting Option: [INSERT HOTLINE / PORTAL / METHOD]
Confidentiality
[INSERT COMPANY NAME] does not promise secrecy. [INSERT COMPANY NAME] shares information only with people who need it to evaluate the report and take action, since investigations require witness interviews and review of relevant messages or documents.
Supervisor Responsibilities
Supervisors forward any sexual harassment report to HR or the designated contact on the same day the supervisor receives it, even when an employee asks for privacy. Supervisors preserve any messages or screenshots shared by the reporting employee. Supervisors avoid questioning witnesses or confronting the accused employee before HR begins interviews.
Investigation
HR follows up after a report so employees know the report reached the right place. HR confirms receipt, documents what the employee reports, and collects any records the employee already has. HR may need interviews and record review, so [INSERT COMPANY NAME] does not promise a fixed timeline and starts investigations as soon as reasonably possible after receiving a report.
Interim Protections
HR may implement temporary protections during an investigation that stop contact between the reporting employee and the accused employee without treating the reporting employee like the problem. Temporary protections may include schedule adjustments, work location changes, reporting-line changes, or a direction from HR that the accused employee stop contacting the reporting employee.
Evidence Preservation
Employees should save any messages or screenshots tied to the reported conduct when they exist. Employees should write down the date, time window, and location of the reported conduct, along with the names of any potential witnesses. An employee may still report without records or witnesses, since the employee’s account is part of the evidence HR evaluates.
Retaliation violates this policy. Retaliation includes job consequences tied to reporting sexual harassment or participation in an internal investigation.
Acknowledgment
Employee Name: _______________________
Employee Signature: ___________________
Date: _______________________________
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. While we strive to ensure accuracy, laws and regulations may change, and unintended errors may occur. This content may not address every aspect of the relevant legal requirements. For guidance on your specific situation, consult your attorney.