Treat every harassment claim seriously, and investigate every complaint. Occasional false reports should not undermine the principle that every allegation should be investigated. These policies allow for disciplinary action against staff that make knowingly false or malicious complaints.
Complete prerequisite steps on creating and implementing policies prohibiting sexual misconduct.
Identify & designate people responsible for handling sexual misconduct cases in the organization.
Adopt the Escalation Matrix (in the Grievance Policy) in assigning responsibilities.
Ensure that information for contacting HR & legal authorities are updated and communicated.
Set up multiple points of contact and disseminate contact information across the organization.
Provide the updated Escalation Matrix to all new staff and annually to all active staff.
Set up an anonymous reporting system, mailbox, or communications channel for reporting sexual misconduct.
If possible, ensure key personnel (especially HR) have undergone training on conducting investigations.
These kinds of training programs or guides are already available though some may incur some costs. See relevant compliant training programs here:
UK
Handling a Sexual Harassment Complaint | ACAS [specific to sexual misconduct]
US
SHRM Seminar - Leading Workplace Investigations [Quite costly]
California
Note that these compliant training programs have been identified through online search without speaking to organizations who have used them. As such, this guide does not recommend them over other programs that may exist. If this is not possible, see Investigation for guidance on how to conduct these.
Disseminate this information across the organization.
IMPORTANT. In staff communications, refer to the Grievance Policy for reporting procedures and steps in handling reports.
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