Steps to Prevent Harassment at Work?

Q. What steps should an employer take to prevent unlawful workplace harassment?

A. The most important step for an employer in preventing harassment is clearly communicating to employees that harassment based on national origin will not be tolerated and that employees who violate the prohibition against harassment will be disciplined, according to the EEOC.

Other important steps include:

* adopting effective and clearly communicated policies and procedures for addressing complaints of national origin harassment, and

* training managers on how to identify and respond effectively to harassment.

By encouraging employees and managers to report harassing conduct at an early stage, the EEOC says employers generally will be able to prevent the conduct from escalating to the point at which it violates Title VII.