In companies that merely pay lip service to laws prohibiting discrimination and harassment, managers and supervisors may engage in inappropriate conduct because they know they can get away with it. An employer may consider the commitment of the supervisor or manager to the company's policies on harassment and discrimination in performance evaluations, salary reviews and when considering promotion. Establish an early-warning system. Companies that seem to have the fewest sexual harassment claims are the companies where employees feel safe in raising concerns to management. When employees do not feel safe voicing concerns, such concerns may arise in the form of a charge of discrimination or a lawsuit after the employee leaves the company.
Some companies use a toll-free hotline that employees call to disclose concerns.
An additional advantage of a hotline is that its mere existence may deter improper activity. Don't permit overreaction. In seeking to avoid claims of harassment, employees sometimes reach the conclusion that they are better off avoiding contact with members of the opposite sex. While a company should do everything it reasonably can to avoid harassment claims, if overreaction takes the form of lost employment opportunities for employees based on gender, it may be unlawful gender discrimination. This should not be permitted.