In 2016, the British sandwich retailer Pret a Manger suffered huge damage to its reputation, as well as compensation claims, when a teenager died after eating a baguette containing sesame, to which she was allergic.  In keeping with EU regulations, Pret a Manger chose to deliver allergy information orally, and with stickers within fridges telling customers to ask staff members for details; but an inquest heard that stickers were not visible.  The coroner said

“I was left with the impression that Pret had not addressed the fact that monitoring food allergy in a business selling more than 200 million items a year was something to be taken very seriously indeed”. 

This tragic case highlights the consequences of inadequate retail compliance training and observance.

Compliance Officers in retail companies both large and small are beginning to gain the respect they deserve.  Retail compliance training has become an important and complex factor in the running of a retail business, particularly in those businesses that deal with a range of suppliers and clients.  Nowhere is this more to be seen than in the retail sector, where even specialized retailers may be dealing with many suppliers, from all over the world.   In the past, this sector was not seen as one of the most heavily-regulated industries, but modern concerns about public safety and increasing globalisation are bringing new challenges.

As every Compliance Officer knows, seeking out the best and most appropriate training is the key to effective practice.  For such a wide-ranging issue, it is important that the retail compliance training provider can demonstrate expertise in all aspects of the subject, and can offer programmes which incorporate the latest updates in regulations and legislation.

We have drawn up a short, alphabetical list of the major issues that face Compliance Officers in Retail.

ANTITRUST

Antitrust laws were developed in the USA in order to outlaw practices that could damage fair competition.  Some of these laws are complex, and whilst they may concern foreign markets they could be applied under different legal headings.  Unfair Business Practices and Monopolies are two terms that are frequently found in international markets.  In the retail sector, dropping prices in an attempt to force the competition out of business used to happen quite frequently.  Now, it is illegal.  Can you be sure that none of the means you use to retain your competitive edge infringe the regulations?

BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION

These two terms would seem to be self-explanatory, but there are many ways in which employees could find themselves breaking regulations that were designed to outlaw the practices.  The rules change frequently, and sometimes only in small ways.  Entertaining and hospitality used to be perfectly acceptable ways of attracting new clients and sealing a deal, but then they were no longer allowed as claimable expenses by revenue collection agencies, and after that, the rules became stricter and more frequently enforced.  Could the manager of one of your stores accept an invitation to a football match if a supplier were to offer it? It is hardly the same thing as a free holiday on a billion-dollar yacht, but is that simply a matter of degree, or are both against the law?  Appropriate anti-bribery and corruption compliance training can include scenarios which help to make these distinctions.

CA CT 2-HOUR MANAGER SEXUAL HARASSMENT

At least two hours of sexual harassment training for supervisors or managers is mandatory in Connecticut and in California for all companies with more than fifty employees (CT) or as few as five (CA), as well as all public employers.  This training could also be appropriate to companies operating outside those states, but there it is essential.

CYBERSECURITY

With major corporations making headline news when hackers breach their security systems, it is hardly surprising that smaller businesses find the question of cyber security daunting.  Protecting expensive databases and software systems used to be a simple issue of property protection; now, in addition to the financial losses, companies may face prosecution for breaches of cybersecurity.  Minimising that risk is a matter that no company can afford to leave to chance.

DATA PRIVACY

This is now a universal demand, and any company that stores information about its clients, suppliers, personnel or others has to ensure that all details are stored securely and that privacy is strictly enforced.  This is not the same thing as cybersecurity.  Members of staff need to know who is permitted to view the files, and what information, if any, may be passed on, and under what circumstances.  If a member of staff has applied for a mortgage, is your HR department permitted to give details of the employment record to the lender? What about enquiries from the police?

ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY

Health and safety received a bad press for several years, with often apocryphal stories about precautions being taken to ridiculous lengths being passed around.  Breaches of regulations designed to protect the environment are now seen, not only as illegal, but also as morally indefensible, and the bad publicity surrounding those breaches will be toxic for your company’s image.  Do you, and your workforce, know the regulations regarding the safe disposal of your company’s waste? Is your signage on protective clothing and working machinery legally correct and up to date?

ETHICAL WORKPLACE CONDUCT

This is a huge subject, and it permeates every level of a business, from the ethical terms and conditions of contracts with suppliers and resellers to the use of the company’s telephone for personal calls.  Being able to demonstrate that your company’s working practices are ethical, as well as legal, is an asset to the company, and one which your marketing department will find helpful.  The return on investment for training in this field is high.

FOOD SAFETY

As highlighted by the Pret a Manger case, if an employee doesn’t fully understand their job, there can be disastrous consequences for food retailers – a major concern in a sector where staff turnover can be high.  Modern business practices call for ever-higher levels of vigilance and attention to detail.  The keeping of scrupulous records, in areas such as food temperature logs and employee records, will be crucial in the event of audit or investigation.

GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation came into force in May 2018 and is a regulation covering all the members of the European Union and the European Economic Area.  Privacy and the protection of data are the key principles of the regulation.  Because it is comparatively new, many companies are not familiar with its requirements and may be in danger of breaching them.  The growth of online retailing presents new challenges in this field, as retailers may be operating over a wide range of jurisdictions, with varying data protection requirements.

HARASSMENT & DISCRIMINATION

Most people would be surprised and offended were they to be accused of harassment or discrimination, and yet it happens far more frequently than is generally acknowledged.  Even a well-meant compliment, paid at an inappropriate moment, can come under the heading of harassment, as can a private joke if overheard by somebody who finds it offensive.  Discrimination, or, more frequently, the accusation or perception of discrimination, is a problem that has beset many organisations, and most of them were unaware of the hazards of this difficult subject.

HEALTHCARE COMPLIANCE

The regulations covering retail compliance training in the field of Healthcare, particularly in the USA but also in Europe, are very strictly enforced.  Patient safety is the most important of the many regulations, but Compliance training also covers privacy.  Confidentiality, where patient care is concerned, is vital, and no company involved in Healthcare can afford to take risks with safety and confidentiality.  Every member of the workforce who comes into contact with patients, or with data regarding their condition and treatment, needs to be trained in those aspects of Compliance that affect their work.  Retailers of healthcare products need to understand their obligations with regard both to patient confidentiality and information sharing.

HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a law that came into force in the USA in 1996.  Although the intention behind the law was the simplification of Health Insurance regulations, particularly as applied to insured people when they are between jobs, its application has proved to be more complicated than was anticipated.  Breaches are common, and many companies complain that compliance is difficult. HIPPA  Training will help your workforce to navigate these challenging waters.

INSIDER TRADING

Insider trading is illegal in most countries, although the details of the regulations may differ.  Taking advantage of information that is not in the public domain in order to profit from the purchase or sale of a public company’s stocks or shares is the generally accepted definition of Insider Trading.  However, there can be grey areas; where can a line be drawn between inside information and personal expertise?

IP & TRADE SECRETS

Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets have to be protected.  This is why contracts usually stipulate that employees who have access to them will not take up employment with rival companies within a set time frame after leaving the company.  But what is a reasonable time frame? And under what circumstances could such a clause be deemed legally unfair? Are you risking the loss of your Intellectual Property?

MODERN SLAVERY

According to Wikipedia, there are between 21 and 70 million modern slaves in the workforce today.  Naturally, you do not use slavery in your business, but it is being discovered in a range of industries, from agriculture to building and garment manufacturing.  The UK’s multi-billion fashion industry employs many thousands of people, and industry bodies such as the UK Fashion and Textile Association have stated that this can make fashion companies vulnerable to “unscrupulous providers and criminals who exploit workers for their labour”. A new partnership, signed by leading British retailers, is intended to enhance efforts to tackle modern slavery in supply chains.  The fashion supply chain is hugely complex,  but retailers can no longer plead ignorance of their sources of supply, and buyers need to understand their complex legal obligations.

MONEY LAUNDERING

Money laundering is no longer a simple matter of spreading the proceeds of crime through small transactions in ‘clean’ businesses; it is a multi-billion dollar international trade, and it is highly sophisticated and often very complex.  Banking and investment regulations and laws are being drawn up and enforced to combat money laundering.  Can you be certain that you are aware of those that apply to your business? And would you and your workforce recognise the warning signs?

RESPECT IN THE WORKPLACE

Where respect in the workplace is concerned, whilst there are legal obligations of which all managers and supervisors should be aware, it has been found that a respectful environment is more productive, with less sickness and absenteeism.  In the US, the Harvard Business Review reported that workers rank being treated with respect as the top factor influencing motivation and engagement, and a petition at the retail giant Zara called for more respect for the store staff.  A recent study by ACAS, the UK Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, found that “Dignity and respect top employees’ workplace wish-list”.  Employees at all levels should be offered appropriate training on treating co-workers with respect:  the return on investment is high.

SECURING DATA

A recent survey on computer security uncovered many instances of lax behaviour.  The password “123456” was found in many cases, as were birthdays and pets’ names, and an employee had stuck a reminder of the day’s passwords on his computer monitor.  This was not malicious; the people concerned had simply not realized the dangers.  How many of your employees see passwords as a nuisance? What ends up in the wastepaper baskets at the end of the day, and who disposes of the contents? These are basic matters, but training will underline the importance of taking them seriously, as well as looking into more sophisticated security issues.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

When people think of harassment, it is usually the sexual form that first springs to mind.  The sense of entitlement that allowed some men to corner a woman at the coffee machine or the photocopier has largely, but not entirely, been eliminated, but sexual harassment now covers more than unwanted sexual attention or even mild flirting. Within retail alone, it’s estimated that 80 per cent of cases of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct go unreported, and studies have also shown that in the United States, the retail industry has the second-highest rate of sexual harassment cases of any sector. Any behaviour that is likely to cause embarrassment or intimidation is now illegal; but does everybody in your workforce understand this? Or realize that a mild joke, or even a compliment, maybe an offence? The penalties for infringement are high.

TRADE COMPLIANCE

In May 2019,  the Trump administration increased U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of  Chinese imports from 10% to 25%.  A new trade war will have serious repercussions across the retail sector, threatening jobs and store closures.  Even without these latest developments, frequent fluctuations in trade laws occur as political situations and relationships between countries change.  It is no longer a simple matter of knowing which suppliers can legally import into the USA; trade routes also have to be checked, and it may be that manufactured products use components that have become illegal under a new regulation.

AND FINALLY – PREVENTION

Prevention should have come further up our list, were we to stick to our alphabetical rules, but prevention is too important to be buried somewhere in the middle.  Prevention is the key-word in retail compliance.  When a breach of a Compliance law or regulation has occurred, the unfortunate Compliance Officer has few choices; self-reporting, which may minimize the financial penalties, but will still be painful; damage limitation in whatever form can be devised and applied; prayer, perhaps.

A professionally trained workforce, aware of those aspects of Compliance that apply to their own sphere of influence, is the best form of prevention.  Even if a breach occurs, if a retail company can demonstrate that the correct training had been given, it will receive credit for that.  Breaches of regulations, however, are far less likely when members of staff know the law, understand the implications of their actions, and are motivated to abide by the legal and ethical standards of their employers.

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In January 2019, Google was fined €50 million, or nearly $56.8 million, by Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), France’s data protection regulator. According to CNIL, Google had violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduced into the European Union in May 2018, concerning the protection of user data and users’ ability to opt-out of sharing their data.

This case underscores the need for a global compliance program within companies, particularly ones that operate in multiple locations and countries around the world. While programs may meet individual local requirements, it can be more difficult to ensure that every aspect of your organization — and every employee — is aware of and aligned with global compliance standards. After all, you need to account for different local laws, languages, company infrastructure, management, and other discrepancies. It’s essential to have a centralized system, but you must also act in accordance with local rules as well.

How do you create a global compliance program? These guidelines can help you get started.

Code of conduct, resources, and written policies

Outline your policies concerning compliance in a code of conduct, clearly laying out the rules and expectations for employees, as well as consequences and courses of action that will be taken should employees fail to meet these guidelines. Additionally, offer resources for individuals to anonymously report noncompliant behavior or file complaints against coworkers in cases such as sexual harassment and others.

This policy should be accessible to all employees and should be embedded in corporate culture. Rather than placing it in a soon-to-be-forgotten company handbook, actively distribute the policy and send frequent updates and reminders. You might also post it in a conspicuous physical location, such as the kitchen, and make it available online via the company intranet or another easily accessible digital location.

Leadership governance

Use a top-down approach when instilling compliance in your company culture. Leadership should model appropriate behavior for other employees, and in order to do so, senior managers and executives must understand the importance of a global compliance program and structure; this will help them establish a foundation for the rest of the staff to follow suit.

A chief compliance officer

Many organizations have a chief compliance officer or chief integrity officer, a c-level executive who governs the compliance activities of the company. If you do institute this position, make sure the officer has an appropriate level of autonomy, given the nature of her role, and that you’ve taken measures to ensure impartiality.

Risk assessment

Identify potential problem areas before they actually become full-fledged problems. This will help you stay ahead of the storm — should a storm be brewing. Senior management, your board, legal counsel, and other advisors or stakeholders should sit down and assess your organization’s weak spots or areas of concern in terms of compliance. You might evaluate potential threats in certain locations, regarding customers and products, business partnerships, and other targets.

Staying aware of the news and headlines

This involves being aware of current issues and headlines — as we can see from the Google/GDPR case above — and taking into account the biggest risks involved with your company. For example, if your organization is part of the tech industry, you should be aware of data security laws and other user protections. It’s important to perform a risk assessment before something catastrophic occurs, rather than try to pick up the pieces — which can end up being costly in terms of both your business’s reputation and the sheer amount of money you might end up paying to resolve the issue — later.

Being aware of local laws and guidelines

Part of being globally compliant means understanding the laws in all areas in which your business operates — not just the central office. That means paying attention to the local laws, as well as the cultures with which you conduct business, to better understand what’s at stake.

Avis, a New Jersey-based car rental company, has 10,000 locations across 175 countries. The company holds meetings with representatives from different countries that last a week, and these employees bring their discussions back to their local offices to ensure that their colleagues are acting in accordance with the global program guidelines.

Ongoing assessment and analysis.

Creating a global compliance program is not enough. Senior management must continue to review and update their programs as necessary. The business world is constantly changing, and organizations must stay abreast of trends and evolving landscapes.

As part of monitoring and updating their programs, leaders should ask for input from employees via surveys and other measures to help them understand the kinds of issues that are most prevalent in different locations and how they can better address them.

Training

Compliance starts with awareness. Your employees must understand the behavior that is expected of them, as well as the consequences for violating your company’s rules and expectations. Training should be conducted routinely, not just as part of the onboarding process, so employees receive a refresher on a regular basis.

Training can not only help them recognize what qualifies as noncompliant behavior but allow them to appreciate and share the values their employer is trying to instill in the culture.

One key feature a quality training program should emphasize is integrity; otherwise, a company risks “checking boxes,” or conducting a program where employees are not truly absorbing and understanding the material they’re learning. When integrity is instilled in the corporate culture, employees want to do the right thing — not just because they have to.

Interactive Services’s Integrity Ethics and Compliance Training program emphasizes integrity while offering features such as:

• Fully customizable content, including programs available in 22 languages
• Local content for key areas such as anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) for the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil
• Artwork, examples, and scenarios for a multi-national audience
• Local images
• Simple navigation for a large, global audience
• Translations by real people, not machines
• Content verified by local legal experts
• Global support offices across multiple times zones
• Dedicated account managers

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“The reality is that #MeToo was waiting to happen. Women’s anger and frustration had been a simmering pot, its lid jittering,” Caitlin Flanagan writes in The Atlantic. “Something was going to cause it to boil over soon enough. The anger was about harassment; the frustration was about the system that had been created to address it.”

In the article entitled “The Problem with HR,” Flangan contends that human resources departments are “no match for sexual harassment….We have to find a better way.”

As Flangan outlines, the need to address sexual harassment in the workplace extends far beyond the purview of HR. Organizations must proactively combat the issue before it becomes a problem, not just field complaints after the fact.

More than a company issue

Alexandria Chapman, an executive with ACV Enviro Corp., a New Jersey industrial waste management firm, told her HR department that she was groped and sexually harassed by her bosses during a night out. In a meeting the following day, an HR representative said that she “wasn’t surprised to hear her allegations,” according to The New York Post. Despite this and Chapman’s frequent check-ins with HR, the alleged perpetrators received “slaps on the wrist,” while Chapman faced backlash at work, where she had to continue to work with the men who she had accused of harassing her. Now, she is suing her employer.

The New Jersey case underscores the need for proper training for the prevention of sexual harassment, which is a form of sex discrimination and is illegal according to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The United States Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines sexual harassment in this way:

“Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.”

The EEOC also notes that prevention is the most effective way of eliminating sexual harassment at work and urges employers to use methods such as providing sexual harassment training to their employees, having a system for handling complaints, and responding to complaints and taking immediate action when violations or potential violations occur.

The federal law and EEOC guidelines underscore the need for organizations to provide comprehensive sexual harassment training programs to employees.

When HR is the problem

HR is not a neutral party. Its primary concern is protecting the company, not necessarily protecting individual employees. In fact, HR personnel are part of the company they represent — and can be equally complicit in sexual harassment.

In Washington State, Bastian McKeen filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging that while he was an intern at the Department of Social and Health Services, David Stewart, the Senior Director of Human Resources, sexually harassed him during a meeting.

What happens when HR is the problem? As is evidenced by the Washington case, the issue of sexual harassment cannot fall under the purview of a single department that has numerous other responsibilities, many of which are often prioritized over it — especially when HR can be the offending party in addition to other employees.

State laws concerning sexual harassment

Numerous states are overhauling their sexual harassment laws to emphasize the need for effective prevention training in the workplace. Some examples include:

California

• As of January 1, 2020, employers with five or more employees must offer at least one hour of sexual harassment training to non-managerial employees and two hours to managerial employees once every two years.
• Training must include practical examples.
• Training must be conducted by people with expertise in harassment prevention.

Connecticut

• All public employers and all private employers with 50+ employees must provide at least two hours of sexual harassment training to supervisors who work in Connecticut.

Delaware

• Employers with more than 50 employees must provide sexual harassment training to all employees.
• Employers must give the training within a year of the beginning of employment and every two years afterwards.

Maine

• Employers with 15 or more employees must provide sexual harassment training to all new employees within a year of the beginning of their employment.
• Supervisors and managers must receive additional training within one year of beginning their role. This training will address their responsibility in handling sexual harassment complaints.

New York

• All employers must provide sexual harassment training every year.
• Employers may either adopt the program provided by New York’s Labor and Human Rights Agencies or create a program that adheres to the same standards.
• New York City has additional requirements.

How to comply with federal and state laws

Sexual harassment is a complex topic, and the consequences for failing to comply with federal and state laws can be severe. Some employers, for example, have faced lawsuits for failing to provide adequate sexual harassment response and prevention training.

Comprehensive training that meets both federal and state laws, such as Interactive Services’ fully customizable program, will help you understand the legislation in place, learn about future updates, and take preventative steps before sexual harassment becomes a problem. And for companies with offices and employees in other countries, you’ll also learn how to address international laws and guidelines.

No matter how professional and responsive the department is, merely having HR handle complaints is not enough. In order to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, you need a thorough training program to ensure that your employees understand what sexual harassment encompasses, its nuances, the consequences for violating your policy, and more. Prevention is the most effective tool in combatting sexual harassment in the workplace, after all.

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The terms localization, translation and globalization are closely linked, but with variations that can be confusing.  A clear understanding of them is essential in the planning of a successful, and compliant, international communications strategy.  With regard to Compliance Training, it’s not sufficient simply to understand the different regulations which apply in various jurisdictions; awareness of cultural differences and the ability to deliver products in the appropriate language are key to success.

Localization

This is the adaptation of a product to ensure that it meets the requirements of a specific local market, i.e. a ‘locale’.  Apparently simple to achieve, localization, in order to be successful, requires specialist knowledge (preferably through a native speaker in situ in the region), of the cultural norms of the market area.  Mistakes can be made all too easily, and a poor first impression is difficult to eradicate.  Religion, culture, and language are the three most important factors, but there can be others, including the laws of the area.  For Compliance Training to take account of these potential pitfalls it is essential not only to avoid breaches of local regulations but also to ensure that there is no unwitting offence or confusion.  Viewers of a training video, for example, maybe distracted by an unfamiliar background, or figures of speech that seem alien to them, and will thus miss the point of the video.

Translation

Generally speaking, translation is concerned with language, and should, therefore, be seen in the context of localization.  It is a narrower concept, but almost certainly a most important factor in international communications.  In order to be effective, the final translation and proofreading should be carried out by a native speaker who is entirely familiar with the language, idioms and linguistic norms of the area. Integrity Ethics and Compliance Training is available in over 30 languages and can be customized to additional languages.

Globalization

Otherwise known as ‘Internationalization’, globalization is the design and development, or later adaptation, of a product intended for the international market with a view to making its localization as simple as possible.  An example of this was the choice of the name ‘Kodak’, which had no meaning in any language known at the time, and which would not, therefore, cause offence anywhere where the product was on sale.

Authenticity and Integrity

As Gary Schulties pointed out in his article “eLearning Localization, Translation, And Globalization: Can You Tell The Difference?” there is more to localization than simple translation, and the adaptation of terminology and idioms to suit the cultural norms of the target audience.  Most competent translation services can handle this, but for a compliance program to succeed, far more than basic translation will be required.  A text that is well-written, concise and entirely clear in its original language and that is spoken by a competent actor with good diction will work in its home market.  Did the translation service take into account that the quite amusing joke about a competitor would be regarded as distasteful to a Japanese audience? Or that the lovely identical twin babies whose image was so successful in promoting baby products in Europe would be regarded as unlucky in some parts of the Indian sub-continent?

The Costs of Compliance Training

The necessary experience, expertise and a network of native speakers to handle all the aspects of international marketing can be beyond the reach of all but the largest and most affluent corporations.  For those companies with overseas branches, training in all the necessary aspects of compliance, taking into account the expenses of translation as well as the usual costs of classroom learning, can be a serious financial burden, but such training is essential if difficulties are to be avoided.

Compliance, e-Learning, Language

Fortunately, there are extremely effective ways of overcoming these expensive difficulties. Interactive Services e-learning on all aspects of compliance is available in most major languages, as direct voice-overs in Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, German, Quebecoise and Spanish, and, with subtitles, in Arabic, Cantonese, Dutch, Danish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Malay, Polish, Russian, Spanish (EU), Turkish, Thai and Vietnamese.

E-learning obviates the necessity for classroom learning, with its expense and inconvenience, not only for the students but also for the organization that will have to cover for them while they are away on the courses.  E-learning training can take place as and when it is convenient.

With the courses expertly translated into the mother tongues of the learners, either with voice-over dubbing or sub-titles, the dangers of misinterpretation, or of the students being insufficiently fluent in the original language of the course, are avoided.  Executives can be confident that their workforce has been properly trained in those aspects of compliance that are necessary for their work, and the learners will have gained valuable knowledge that will enable them to be more effective and capable, and therefore to progress in their careers.

Contact us to find out if whether your language is available immediately.

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Whilst discrimination and sexual harassment in Europe has always been outlawed throughout the EU, the individual member states have their own laws and regulations. This makes for a complicated scenario for companies attempting to create compliance training programs that will work across the whole of Europe.

The European Union definition of sexual harassment is based on what is known as the ‘Dignity Harm Approach’, whereas, in the  US, the model is called the ‘Discriminatory Approach’ (European Institute for Gender Equality report 2012).  Both the USA and the EU are taking an increasingly strong line on Sexual Harassment, and breaches of compliance on Sexual Harassment regulations in both regions can have a seriously damaging effect upon the reputation of any organisation.  There are also severe financial consequences.  EU Directive 2006/54/EC speaks of ‘dissuasive penalties’. The same Directive speaks of the importance of compliance training in combating Sexual Harassment in Europe, specifically in the workplace.

So, beyond general awareness training, what else should companies in different EU locations consider?

Germany

An evaluation of the laws on Sexual Harassment in Germany in 2002, found implementation to be ‘weak and uneven’. As a result, the General Equal Treatment Act came into force in 2006, and Sexual Harassment now comes under the heading of Gender-Based Violence.  Companies operating in Germany need to be aware of the strong regulations, which can carry penalties including custodial sentences, and it is essential that those responsible for training and conduct in the workplace ensure that their German-based workforce is kept up to date on changing regulations.

France

In the ten months to April 30^th 2019, French authorities have handed down 447 fines of up to €750 related to ‘street harassment’, a clear indication that France will not tolerate Sexual Harassment, and will take punitive action against those who perpetrate it.

Elsewhere in France, the “Right to Flirt” has been cited in court, and judgement on the case in which it was put forward as a defence is expected in September 2019.  Regardless of the outcome, companies operating in France are becoming increasingly wary of depending upon a traditional view of ‘flirting’ to excuse behaviour that in other regions might be considered harassment. They are now looking to training courses for their workforces to ensure that behaviour red lines are not crossed. Sexual Harassment is now a criminal offence in France, and although some of the wording of the laws seem to allow some leeway in defence (‘repeatedly’, ‘serious’, etc) there is no doubt that France is taking steps to strengthen its laws in this area.  Organisations operating in France will need compliance training that keeps abreast of this changing climate.

Spain

In Spain, harassment comes under a general legal heading of Sexual Abuse, and in cases that specifically exclude violence or intimidation, there is a sentence of imprisonment from one to three years or a significantly punitive fine. At a corporate level, companies operating in Spain that do not ensure that their workforces are correctly trained in the topic of Sexual Harassment run serious risks to their own reputations.

Italy

In Italy, Sexual Harassment is seen, in law, as a form of stalking, and in 2009 Italy adopted an anti-stalking law that decreed it to be a criminal offence punishable with a prison sentence ranging from six months to four years.  In most other ways, the law in Italy is closely in keeping with the EU Directives on the subject.  There is an obligation on employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees, and this includes protection from Sexual Harassment, even if that harassment is not committed by the employer or a member of the workforce.  The laws in Italy covering Sexual Harassment are quite complicated, and the penalties for infringement are harsh; compliance training for an Italian workforce is the best defence against potential charges of Sexual Harassment.

Belgium

Sexual Harassment at Work is a crime in Belgium. The laws and regulations covering it come under a general heading of Psychosocial Risks, and companies are expected to carry out risk assessments of their workplaces in order to identify and mitigate those risks.  These risk assessments need to be comprehensive, and those tasked with carrying them out should be thoroughly trained to ensure that they are competent and qualified. Breaches of the law may well result in criminal proceedings against both employer and harasser. Apart from the legal aspects of Sexual Harassment, in Belgium, there is a growing popular movement against it, and reputational damage will be severe.  For example, female researchers in the academic world set up SASSY (Sharing Academic Sexism Stories with You), which led to universities in Belgium taking a stronger line on Sexual Harassment.

Denmark

Sexual Harassment is not specifically mentioned in Danish criminal law, although Denmark was one of the first countries to respond to the Me Too movement with draft legislation.  On the whole, Denmark follows the EU line on the subject, but most of the regulations are advisory, rather than compulsory.  The situation is fluid, and companies operating in Denmark would be well advised to ensure that their compliance training programme keeps abreast of new laws and regulations.

United Kingdom

The laws governing Sexual Harassment in the workplace follow the EU regulations quite closely, but in addition, they are covered by the Equality Act 2010.  In the UK, it is not necessary for an employer to be aware of Sexual Harassment in order to be prosecuted, nor does a person who is being sexually harassed have to indicate that the harassment is unwelcome for it to be judged illegal. There is a requirement that the victim’s response must be ‘reasonable’, but that is a term open to a wide range of interpretations. These potential ambiguities make it essential for there to be a strict Code of Conduct in the workplace, and that Code of Conduct must be drawn up by somebody who is trained, qualified and competent.  It would also be very unwise to leave the workforce in any doubt as to what constitutes Sexual Harassment.  The best defence against prosecution for breaches of Sexual Harassment regulations is thorough and expert training for the entire workforce, from senior management down to casual labourers, all of whom will be deemed to be under the control of the organisation.

The Best Defence 

An untrained and uninformed workforce operating anywhere in Europe is in danger of infringing the laws and regulations governing Sexual Harassment in the workplace. The impact on victims can be life-changing, and the penalties for both individuals who commit sexual harassment, and their employers, are severe. The best defence against breaches is good compliance training, delivered in the right way, at the right time, to the right people.

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The following list is of points to consider when planning your compliance training checklist. Download the list here

1. Tailor the course to the context

No two workplaces are alike, and every business will present its own challenges with regard to compliance.  The training programme needs to take local conditions into account.  Remember too that the audience will quickly become restless and inattentive if the training material seems irrelevant to their own working lives.  The training needs to be practical as well as theoretical; learners need to come away with a clear idea of what to do if they encounter non-compliance.

2. Involve higher levels of the organisation

Compliance training, if it is to be effective, must be supported by management at every level.  If a culture of compliance is to permeate the organisation, staff need to know that the subject is being taken seriously and that they will not be left unsupported if they challenge non-compliance.  Complaining and whistleblowing are difficult steps for individual employees to take, and training needs to demonstrate that they will be heeded.  Ideally, training should include real evidence of management support.

3. Be interactive

Employees are already experienced and knowledgeable about their own working environment, and they do not take kindly to being talked at.  The training needs to provide plenty of opportunities for learners to relate the material to their own experiences and offer examples from their own successes and failures.  Role-play and quizzes can keep learners engaged and allow them to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.

4. Include multimedia content

In the 21^st century, employees are used to getting information from a wide variety of sources, and too much reliance on a single medium, whether Powerpoint slides or handouts, will quickly seem tedious.  A good mixture of techniques, such as video and dramatizations, will hold people’s attention and avoid fatigue.  Video clips are most effective when they are not too long, and raise points which can trigger discussion.

5. A variety of platforms

Online training is a valuable resource which allows employers to deliver compliance training with minimal disruption to work schedules.  People can fit training around their working day and can learn at their own pace.  Another advantage in providing training online is that the material can remain available for future reference.  However, it’s important that online training takes account of the different devices used by employees, and the imperfect conditions (such as outdated software, mobile devices, or poor bandwidth) which may be available to them.

6. Narratives and Personalities

Learners retain information much better when it is delivered in the form of a real-life story.  Real or imaginary cases in lifelike situations will stick in peoples’ minds; a good training course lets learners imagine themselves in the scenarios presented to them.

7. Opportunities for continued learning

Compliance training is far-reaching in its scope and in the responsibilities it places on its audience.  No-one should finish the training feeling that there is nothing more to learn or that they are now on their own.  It is helpful if information from the course is available in a quick ‘ready reference’ format for future use.

8. Give clear feedback 

The training needs to incorporate frequent opportunities for trainers and learners to monitor progress and check to understand.  Confidence in their ability to handle non-compliance is one of the most important benefits that learners will derive from the training, and this needs to be reinforced by honest and accurate feedback.  Equally, the need for further study may need to be clearly identified.

Need help in putting a compliance training program together? We can help. Over 3 million learners in 25 years.

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The issue of sexual harassment is not a new one, but now more than ever, public consciousness has turned toward finding a solution. Today, we have a unique opportunity to spark real growth through effective learning tactics.

Many states have their own sets of requirements for sexual harassment training, and following those requirements carefully not only ensure compliance but also creates an inclusive and comfortable environment for every employee.

Due to updating requirements, employers should turn a discerning eye to their current sexual harassment training, and question whether it’s truly serving the company in the highest degree possible.

Is your sexual harassment training designed to drive a culture of change?

As with any type of training, simply going through the motions to tick boxes won’t incite real progress.

In looking at a sexual harassment training program, keep an eye out for some hallmarks of thoughtful design, like:

• Interactive modules
• specific examples of sexual harassment and how to navigate them a thorough rundown of employees’ rights
• The practice of generalizing or glossing over uncomfortable information is unproductive; the only effective training is one that will spark actual thought, and maybe even discourse.

A training that details the laws, definitions, and responsibilities associated with sexual harassment, but fails to provide a specific situational example and check in on employees’ understanding, ranks as a missed opportunity to positively affect company culture.

Do more than simply comply with legal requirements—take it several steps further into a space of actual education in order to drive change.

Unpacking New York sexual harassment training needs

As of October 2018, New York state began requiring annual sexual harassment training for every employee in their spoken language.

New York’s annual requirement speaks to an overarching fact in modern culture: things are constantly moving, constantly evolving, constantly updating, and harassment training ought to follow suit.

Beyond this new recurring schedule, there are half a dozen other requirements that sexual harassment training must meet in order to comply with New York state standards. These requirements include:

• Interactivity
• Official definitions
• Examples
• Federal and State provisions
• Employees’ rights
• Supervisor responsibility

These requirements essentially mean that employees must be educated on all relevant legislation related to sexual harassment, as well as the real-world ways that those statutes may affect them, should they experience sexual harassment. Additionally, supervisors and subordinates alike are made aware of the ways that those in managerial positions are required to behave.

Since New York now requires annual training, employers can no longer rest on their laurels and consult the same training system year after year—a highly interactive and evolving system of learning is the only way to ensure that employees genuinely take something away from the process.

What’s more, the robust set of requirements listed by New York takes more time and effort to compile than may be immediately evident. It would take an exceptional amount of work for an employer to create a training system that complies with New York’s standards on their own. An eLearning kit on the subject helps ensure that content does not become stale and outdated, as with many other forms of training.

Are you ready for California’s new sexual harassment training requirements?

New York isn’t the only state with an evolving landscape of legislation surrounding sexual harassment. California is also rethinking its sexual harassment requirements in the wake of social movements calling out this unwelcome behavior.

As of January 2020, any company with at least 5 employees must provide non-supervisory workers with a minimum of 1 hour of sexual harassment training—this number of employees was previously much higher. Now, even fledgling companies will be required to provide sexual harassment training that conforms with California’s requirements.

Additionally, companies whose supervisors perpetrate sexual harassment will be held liable for that supervisor’s actions. This raises the stakes on sexual harassment training, further incentivizing companies to partake in robust, thoughtful training.

California’s new requirements speak to a larger cultural trend that states sexual harassment is no longer tolerable, so companies can either take action to eliminate it from their ranks or face the consequences of their inaction.

Interactive Services understands the evolving landscape surrounding the issue of sexual harassment, even in states with complicated sets of requirements like New York.

Not only do we understand the space, but we have also worked to develop training that navigates within it effectively. This means that employees who undergo our eLearning understand the legal implications of sexual harassment, but are also imbued with the sense that this sort of behavior is untenable.

These are times of great advancement. Never before have we had so much information at our fingertips, nor have we been so interconnected and aware of each other’s experiences. It’s time to harness the capabilities of the digital age and use them to affect progress in the space of sexual harassment.

The right training doesn’t just protect a company from unsavory ramifications—it can actually promote change.

The post Sexual Harassment in New York State — How Training Promotes Change appeared first on Compliance Training - Interactive Services.

On June 18, Connecticut’s governor signed a law ratcheting up the state’s mandated sexual harassment compliance training requirement. Surprisingly, only four other states – California, Delaware, Maine, and New York – had state requirements for such instruction. New York City has even more stringent requirements than those imposed through Albany.

If such states as Illinois, Maryland or New Jersey, which otherwise have strict workplace laws, have so far taken a pass on requiring employers to offer sexual harassment training, what is prompting so many businesses to get ahead on this?

Regardless of State-specific requirements for sexual harassment training, there are laws at both state and federal levels that, if broken, could lead to fines, damages and at the very least a hit to the company’s and perpetrators’ – and alleged perpetrators’ – reputations.

“Ignorance of the law …”

That you shouldn’t rob or kill your employees has been settled law since the Ten Commandments, so employers can safely demur from offering anti-robbing and anti-killing training. (Not calling employees in on their day off is also covered under that omnibus, but attitudes seem to have shifted over the course of millennia.)

Laws prohibiting sexual harassment, though, are of much more recent vintage. Until the Civil Rights Act, it was perfectly legal in the United States to deny employment based on sex. Starting July 2, 1964, employers could no longer do that, but they could still legally behave in a way that would make many women feel uncomfortable and even physically threatened in the workplace.

That did not change until 1980 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finally got around to declaring that sexual harassment was indeed a form of sex discrimination. That meant that, if someone at the company demanded sexual favors of a subordinate or otherwise made her workplace a hostile environment, the company would have to pay a fine. Another decade would go by before a federal law gave her the right to sue for damages.

The pronoun “her” is used advisedly in the preceding paragraph. It was not until 1998 before Joseph Oncale successfully took his suit against his employer all the way to the Supreme Court, paving the way for men to claim that they were victims of sexual harassment.

“You know you got a cute little ass,” a supervisor allegedly told the 21-year-old Oncale, the lowest-ranking man on an eight-man crew cooped up together on one of Sundowner Offshore Services’ oil rig. “I’m going to get you.”

No need to go into the rest of the complaint; suffice to say this was just the beginning.

It should surprise nobody that it took almost until the turn of the millennium for a man to claim protection under sexual harassment statute, even though one in six EEOC harassment filings are now made by men. It took until 1976 for a woman to win a similar case under the Civil Rights Act. That’s when Diane R. Williams was fired for not sleeping with her boss. And who knows if Williams would have ever known how to go about establishing a landmark case if the job she lost wasn’t as a lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department?

Required training

Connecticut’s new Time’s Up Act is not just the latest statewide initiative to pass, it is an upgrade from an existing one. So it is safe to assume that it is among the most stringent.

Starting October 1, employers with three or more employees now must provide two hours per year of sexual harassment training to all employees.  But even employers with fewer than three employees – and this would mainly be family businesses where owners’ spouses or children work – still have to provide sexual harassment training to supervisory employees. Prior to the Time’s Up Act, these requirements only applied to companies with 50 or more employees. California’s law – previously considered the strictest – only ordered compliance training for companies with five or more employees, and then only on a two-year cycle.

The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities is currently developing no-cost resources to provide to employers. There is nothing about it on the agency’s website yet but, once this curriculum is developed, it is likely to be as a proxy for training guidelines that can be reused throughout the United States.

Until then, though, California probably provides the best template for determining what must be covered. Specifically, trainers in the Golden State must explain these 14 points:

1. The definition of sexual harassment under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964,
2. Statutes and case law prohibiting and preventing sexual harassment
3. The types of conduct that can be sexual harassment
4. The remedies available for victims of sexual harassment
5. Strategies to prevent sexual harassment
6. Supervisors’ obligation to report harassment
7. Practical examples of harassment
8. The limited confidentiality of the complaint process
9. Resources for victims of sexual harassment, including to whom they should report it
10. How employers must correct harassing behavior
11. What to do if a supervisor is personally accused of harassment
12. The elements of an effective anti-harassment policy and how to use it
13. The definition of “abusive conduct” under state law
14. Harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation

New York State has similar but distinct coursework requirements, which can be found on its website.

Necessary but not sufficient

It is telling that, in Connecticut’s new law, training requirements are just part of the formula. The Time’s Up Act is actually more focused on providing redress for victims of sexual assault than victims of sexual harassment. Its main provision is abolishing the statute of limitations for some classes of rape. As for its workplace provisions, it increases the requirement to inform employees of the illegality of sexual harassment and the remedies available. Under the previous law, a poster in the break room was sufficient, but now the same information must also be published as static content on the company website, pushed out to each employee via email and handed to each employee as a hard copy.

It should also be noted that there is often a difference between training that is effective and training that just ticks the boxes. After more than half a century of federal legislation, regulatory commissions, case law decided by the highest Court in the land and such high-profile public revelations from the likes of Anita Hill, and yet one in three employees have reported sexual harassment.

“Let’s just say that sexual harassment became illegal in the mid-1980s and the numbers haven’t changed,” Fran Sepler, a workplace misconduct consultant told Quartz.

So a company that sets compliance with a regulatory requirement as the bar for its anti-harassment training might just as well be inviting a lawsuit, a public pillorying and a nasty letter from the EEOC. It is not enough to explain to someone who is going to harass employees anyway exactly how to do it. Rather than conformity with state law, the goal of the training course should be too but to truly contribute to a safer work environment for all.

The post Sexual Harassment Compliance Training: Teaching Employees It’s Not a ‘Joke’ – It’s Harassment appeared first on Compliance Training - Interactive Services.

Of all aspects of business performance, compliance can be one of the hardest to measure. If compliance were to be managed with complete success, the result would be a series of negatives, a clean sheet:  no incidents, no reports, no outcomes, no claims, no legal proceedings.

Compliance training can be as hard to measure as compliance itself. You can, of course, measure learner completion and assessment scores, but try defining the extent to which your training has impacted workplace culture, or helped individuals prevent breaches of compliance! Not easy.

1. Effectiveness of Compliance Training Analytics

A number of studies examine the effectiveness of compliance training analytics. The In Focus: Compliance Trends Survey 2013 report, a joint study by Deloitte and Compliance Week, surveyed 189 senior executives with responsibilities for compliance and ethics.  The study revealed that a wide variety of metrics were being used, of which one of the most common, naturally, was the successful completion of training courses by employees.  Forty-four per cent of respondents cited workforce training as the biggest operational issue around managing compliance risks.

2. Compliance Training Data Analysis

An important trend in compliance training metrics in the use of increasingly nuanced data analysis. The accumulation of statistics on reported incidents, for example, becomes far more useful if the analysis can include the demographic location of incidents within the organization, as well as the type and seriousness of the incident, and some indication of underlying factors such as intent and knowledge. The Deloitte study found that some organizations were relying on surprisingly outdated analytical tools for analyzing compliance data; an obvious advantage to using the latest software is the ability to monitor trends in real-time rather than retrospectively and to see where a compliance training focus may have made an impact.

3. Diversity of Approach in Training

Because there is no single outcome measure that demonstrates effective compliance training, the most effective oversight will use a diverse approach. In addition to data analytics, qualitative measures such as free-form interviews and observation can be useful tools. Look at what the business is already measuring (e.g., speak up hotline calls, successful phishing attacks) and measure your training success against those hard numbers.

4. Predictive Analysis

Perhaps the most useful information an organization can derive from compliance training analysis is the prediction of future risk areas.  An expert may be able to mine past and current data on assessment scores to foresee problems with surprising accuracy.  When compliance officers need to argue the case for their training budget allocations, it may be the force of these predictions that helps them most.

5. Workforce Training

Successful companies are increasingly using metrics which can predict future behavior; for example, employee ethics surveys can measure compliance training program effectiveness, and identify areas of potential risk.  An effective compliance training program can include an analysis of changes in attitude amongst participants – a far more useful measure of success then recording mere attendance and completion.  Another important metric is the effect of the compliance training program on incident reports; but again, the analysis needs to recognize subtlety – an increase in reports may demonstrate raised awareness rather than reduced compliance.

Are you having difficulty measuring the effectiveness of your Compliance Training Program? Do you feel it needs an injection of modernisation? something to liven it up and get better results? Give us a call, we have been working with Global companies on compliance training for over 25 years, we will be able to help.

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While you may not think about it often, data privacy in the workplace can play a bigger role in your day to day life than you realize. Think about all of the junk mail that you receive or the telemarketing calls that make their way to your phone. All of those advertisers got your contact information from somewhere.

Data privacy in the workplace is mainly about getting a say in who or what gets to view your personal information which can include your telephone number, email address, or other personal tidbits. This privacy should extend to who sees the information, who sells the information, and what they can do with it.

As a company, making sure that your customer’s data remains private is not just an ethical issue, in many cases, it can be a legal one as well. Ensuring that customer data is secure protects the customers, the employees, and the company.

What Exactly is Personal Data

So what types of data should be protected?

Personal data is any information that pertains to a living person. This data can be used to identify a person, such as a name, phone number, address, bank details, or even medical history.

What Exactly is Sensitive Data

Another form of data that must be protected is what is known as ‘sensitive data’. This is information that relates specifically to a person, such as his or her race or ethnic origin. Other types of Sensitive Data includes sexual orientation, religious beliefs, political opinions, biometric data, and union memberships.

Protecting Data of Employees

Employers collect plenty of information regarding their employees, and this data must be protected with as much vigor as the data provided by customers. The employees of the company have a right to know whether or not the bargain is being held fairly.

The company must be completely transparent, and employees must be able to see exactly how their data is being stored and used. Companies should be able to answer a few simple questions about the data that is being stored.

• Where is the information being stored?
• Why is it being stored?
• How was it initially obtained?
• Why was it initially obtained?
• How long will it remain in the storage facility?
• How secure is the data? Is it encrypted?
• How accessible is the data?
• Is the data sold or shared with 3rd parties?
• As a company, you should only be collecting data that is necessary to obtain. Just like your customers, your employees should trust that the personal information they have shared is protected and that it won’t be shared or sold to other entities.

Being Responsible with Data

In this day and age, people worry about keeping their personal information safe and out of the hands of individuals who would exploit it. Data privacy and security is taken very seriously by your customers, and it should be taken very seriously by your company as well. In order to ensure that data is kept safe, it is necessary to instill a sense of importance and responsibility in your employees.

Each person within the company has a responsibility to keep customer data secure. Most of the data privacy incidents that occur are caused by employees making simple, careless mistakes. In order to avoid these types of mistakes, it is important to create a few principles within the company to build a culture that protects customer data.

Employees should never collect data that isn’t needed, and any data that is collected should only ever be used for the stated purpose. This is the purpose that the customer consented to when they released their personal data to the company. Any data that is collected should be protected at all costs, and when the personal data is no longer needed, it should be destroyed.

Consent must be given by the client or customer before any personal data can be disclosed to a 3rd party. For example:

Joan works as a scheduling assistant for a glaucoma specialist at a busy ophthalmology practice, and one day an out of state doctor calls requesting the files for a patient named Mr. Robinson. The doctor says that Mr. Robinson was on vacation and injured his eye, and he is now being treated for the injury in the doctor’s office. Legally, Joan cannot give the doctor any information about Mr. Robinson. She would need a written consent form signed by the patient to release the requested information to the other doctor.

Since Joan is well-versed in data privacy rules and ethics, she does not disclose any of Mr. Robinson’s private information until the out of state doctor faxes over the necessary signed consent form.

Security, Access, and Accountability

Whenever data is collected, your customers should be reasonably certain that it is being kept secure. That means private data will be encrypted, and all the company computers and devices will be password protected, among other security measures.

Another important aspect that should be controlled within the company is the ability to access data. The customers that provide their private information do so with the understanding that the information is being used for a specific purpose. Employees should always respect that policy, and customer data should never be accessed for any other purpose.

Continuing with the example above:

A few weeks after the contact with the out of state doctor, Joan remembers that Mr. Robinson had an eye injury while on vacation, and she wonders what happened to his eye. Joan decides to pull up his patient chart in the system to check through the doctor’s notes to see if she can figure out what type of injury Mr. Robinson had. Joan doesn’t have a reason for checking up on the patient, she is just curious about what may have happened.

This is a breach of Mr. Robinson’s privacy because Joan is not using his personal information for a necessary purpose. She is simply “browsing” through his file in order to satisfy her own curiosity.

Should Mr. Robinson find out about Joan accessing his patient file without authorization, he could hold the practice responsible for the breach of his privacy. As a patient, Mr. Robinson is allowed to request information on how is data is being accessed, and if it was found out that Joan was logged into his patient chart without reason, she should face disciplinary action.

Creating a Culture of Data Privacy in the Workplace

It is unlikely that you would ever knowingly expose your own personal data. No one would post a picture of their bank account number on social media or leave their social security card lying on a table in a public place. You already understand the potential consequences of allowing your personal data to be seen and shared in that manner.

The culture of your company should be the same. Employees should consider allowing a breach of the customer’s private data as serious a consequence as allowing a breach of their own personal data. Company culture should insist upon only appropriate sharing of data, that all data be stored securely, and that data that is no longer needed is disposed of in a proper manner.

In Conclusion

Your customers should always trust your company’s data privacy policies, and those policies are only as good as the employees that are following them. There are so many ways that employees can cause a data breach such as leaving a computer unlocked in a public space or sending confidential emails to the wrong recipient.

Help build an integrity-based training program that stresses the importance of data privacy. Make the practice of keeping customer information safe and secure by making it a part of your company’s culture.

Let Interactive Services whelp create an effective training program to instill the importance of data security in your employees. Click here to learn more about our innovative training programs.

Download A Learning Guide to Data Privacy in the Workplace ebook here.

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