In this scenario Sarah an employee at ABC corporation is speaking with the HR manager to discuss a concern. Lets listen in. Do you have a minute? Sure. Thanks for making time for me. Not a problem Sarah, how are you? Not so good actually. Really, Whats up? Well I don't want to get anyone in trouble but there is something going on in my department that's making me uncomfortable. Im sorry to hear your uncomfortable are you able to share a little more about whats going on? Well it's a little embarrassing and I want to make sure that what we talk about remains confidential. Before Sarah says anything else. What should the Hr manager inform her of? in text citations and references
In the video, Sarah is an employee at ABC corporation and is speaking with the HR manager to discuss her concern. Something is going on in her department that makes her uncomfortable, and she is embarrassed. She wants to ensure that what she and her HR manager discuss remains confidential. Before Sarah says anything else, the HR manager should inform her of a few things. First, they should be clear that they will try to protect the confidentiality of any harassment allegation to the best ability. The HR manager cannot wholly guarantee confidentiality because an effective investigation cannot be completed without certain information being revealed to the alleged harasser or any person who may have witnessed it. Still, it will only be shared on a need-to-know basis (Enforcement Guidance: Vicarious Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors, 1999). Sarah should also be ensured that she will be protected against any retaliation which may occur over her complaint. “Retaliation occurs when employers take punitive actions against individuals who exercise their legal rights” (Valentine et al., 2020, p. 77).
Sarah should be provided with a copy of the policy and complaint procedure, which should be written so that all employees understand and should encourage victims to report any allegations. The policy and complaint procedure should make clear that it will not allow harassment based on sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, and banned activity. It should cover harassment by anyone in the corporation. There should be a promise that employees will be protected against retaliation and that they will take immediate and corrective action if an investigation shows that harassment has occurred. The HR manager should communicate how seriously they take harassment and encourage employees to report harassment immediately (Enforcement Guidance: Vicarious Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors, 1999). Do you agree with this?
