By: Jennifer Muse
Q: In the wake of #MeToo, we’ve heard about restaurants and hotels receiving reports of harassment and discrimination. What can we do to proactively address our workplace culture?
A: Both the hospitality and restaurant industries attract outgoing and friendly employees. The interactions that employees have may expose them to harassment and discrimination not only from other employees, but also from customers. As an employer, it’s critical to focus on prevention and communication. But the responsibilities do not stop there—employers must also promptly investigate allegations and take appropriate action to ensure the conduct does not occur again. From organized training to panic buttons, there are a number of steps employers can take to protect their employees and create a safe work environment.
1. Conduct a full review of your policies. An employer’s policies on harassment, discrimination, and retaliation should, at a minimum:
2. Communicate with your employees. And not just through the handbook. Employers should set up trainings where employees hear and receive explanations about harassment and discrimination by both customers and other employees. Training helps employees recognize and confront harassment where appropriate.
Open lines of communication are important for addressing issues in the workplace environment. “Open door” policies can help management be effective leaders and address conduct that may ultimately rise to a legally actionable level of harassment or discrimination. Minor concerns may indicate a bigger problem—taking the time to discuss an issue early on may prevent concerns with workplace morale, in addition to preventing illegal harassment or discrimination.
Q: In the wake of #MeToo, we’ve heard about restaurants and hotels receiving reports of harassment and discrimination. What can we do to proactively address our workplace culture?
A: Both the hospitality and restaurant industries attract outgoing and friendly employees. The interactions that employees have may expose them to harassment and discrimination not only from other employees, but also from customers. As an employer, it’s critical to focus on prevention and communication. But the responsibilities do not stop there—employers must also promptly investigate allegations and take appropriate action to ensure the conduct does not occur again. From organized training to panic buttons, there are a number of steps employers can take to protect their employees and create a safe work environment.
1. Conduct a full review of your policies. An employer’s policies on harassment, discrimination, and retaliation should, at a minimum:
- State that harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, by both employees and customers, will not be tolerated.
- Describe and define both harassment and discrimination, as well as retaliation.
- Give specific examples of what constitutes harassment and other prohibited conduct.
- Provide employees with information on how to report harassment, discrimination, and retaliation by other employees.
- Provide employees with information on how to report harassment and discrimination by customers.
- Provide employees with several methods to report prohibited conduct, so an employee can bypass an alleged harasser, if needed.
- Outline or explain the investigation process.
- Assure employees that reports will be handled as confidentially as possible.
- Advise that retaliation against a reporting employee is prohibited.
- State that the company will take prompt and appropriate corrective action, up to and including terminating employment, if an allegation of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation is found credible; and
- Require management to immediately report suspected harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.
2. Communicate with your employees. And not just through the handbook. Employers should set up trainings where employees hear and receive explanations about harassment and discrimination by both customers and other employees. Training helps employees recognize and confront harassment where appropriate.
Open lines of communication are important for addressing issues in the workplace environment. “Open door” policies can help management be effective leaders and address conduct that may ultimately rise to a legally actionable level of harassment or discrimination. Minor concerns may indicate a bigger problem—taking the time to discuss an issue early on may prevent concerns with workplace morale, in addition to preventing illegal harassment or discrimination.
3. Train your management staff. Not only should managers and supervisors be educated about the policies, but they should also be trained to recognize improper conduct among coworkers. Each manager and supervisor should know the procedures and plan for immediately reporting any suspected harassment, discrimination, or retaliation to allow for a prompt and thorough investigation and corrective action, when appropriate.
4. Follow through on your procedures. If an employee comes to you with a complaint of discrimination, harassment or retaliation, follow your investigation process. Among other things, employers should make sure to:
5. Have a plan for when the harasser is a customer. Frankly, the customer is not always right. Employees should have a way to immediately report any harassment by a customer. For example, Chicago, Seattle, and New York all require hotels to provide “panic buttons” for their workers. Some restaurants have servers use color codes to alert management about potentially problematic customers.
Management should be prepared to step in when a server or staff member reports inappropriate behavior by a customer, whether it is providing additional supervision at the table, or asking a customer engaging in inappropriate behavior to leave. Having a script or prepared course of action gives management the tools to address the situation and protect one of your greatest assets—your employees.
4. Follow through on your procedures. If an employee comes to you with a complaint of discrimination, harassment or retaliation, follow your investigation process. Among other things, employers should make sure to:
- Gather the details of the alleged conduct—who, what, when, where, how, and, particularly in the case of reported retaliation, the perceived why.
- Ask about any potential witnesses.
- Ask if there are any documents, such as text messages or emails.
- Interview all relevant parties, including the reporting party, the alleged harasser, and any witnesses; and
- Take appropriate action to prevent future acts of inappropriate conduct, where warranted.
- If the allegations cannot be substantiated, all parties should still be reminded of the employer’s policies.
5. Have a plan for when the harasser is a customer. Frankly, the customer is not always right. Employees should have a way to immediately report any harassment by a customer. For example, Chicago, Seattle, and New York all require hotels to provide “panic buttons” for their workers. Some restaurants have servers use color codes to alert management about potentially problematic customers.
Management should be prepared to step in when a server or staff member reports inappropriate behavior by a customer, whether it is providing additional supervision at the table, or asking a customer engaging in inappropriate behavior to leave. Having a script or prepared course of action gives management the tools to address the situation and protect one of your greatest assets—your employees.
