Harassment & Discrimination Prevention: US

This Harassment & Discrimination Prevention policy helps your organization set clear expectations for respectful conduct, reporting, and non-retaliation, and it supports compliance with key federal equal employment opportunity laws enforced by the EEOC, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), amongst others. It gives employees a practical, accessible way to understand what harassment and discrimination can look like (including in remote and offsite settings), who is covered, how to report concerns, and how you will respond.

The History Behind Harassment & Discrimination Prevention Policies in the US

Harassment & Discrimination rules at work grew out of civil rights fights that moved from the streets into the workplace, and modern employer policies track the same arc. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal for covered employers to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and it gave the EEOC a central enforcement role. Congress later added major building blocks with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which pushed employers to treat age and disability as core workplace compliance issues.

Courts then had to settle the gray area between ugly behavior and illegal harassment. In Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986), the Supreme Court recognized hostile work environment harassment under Title VII, which forced employers to take "workplace culture" seriously in a way the original text did not. In Faragher v. City of Boca Raton and Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth (both 1998), the Court tied liability to what employers and employees actually do, including whether the employer had a real complaint process and whether the employee used it. Those cases did not just change lawsuits, they changed handbooks, because employers needed a clear reporting path and a way to show they responded promptly.

Later rulings and state laws added complexity. Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services (1998) confirmed that same-sex harassment can violate Title VII, and Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) held that Title VII's ban on sex discrimination covers sexual orientation and gender identity. States also started adding their own requirements, including training mandates, broader protected categories, and longer filing windows, which is why most employers treat a harassment policy as a hard requirement.

Which Law is the Harassment & Discrimination Prevention Policy Meant to Comply With?

When you create and distribute a Harassment & Discrimination Prevention Policy for US employees, it's in an effort to comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA).

How to Write an US-Specific Harassment & Discrimination Prevention Policy

• Start with "why" and introduce the concept by stating your organization is committed to a respectful, inclusive, harassment-free workplace and prohibits harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
• Define the scope by banning harassment and discrimination based on legally protected characteristics.
• Extend coverage by applying the policy to everyone connected to your workplace and across all work-related settings, including remote and offsite work.
• Set expectations by stating policy violations will lead to corrective action, up to and including termination, and that misconduct by third parties will be addressed.
• Explain prohibited conduct by defining sexual harassment and giving representative examples of unacceptable behavior.
• Explain prohibited conduct by banning non-sexual harassment and discriminatory conduct, including slurs, stereotypes, and demeaning jokes or visuals tied to protected traits.
• Apply the rules to communications by covering electronic systems and online platforms used for work.
• Provide a reporting path by encouraging employees to report concerns and stating reports will be investigated with appropriate follow-up.
• Protect reporters by prohibiting retaliation and supporting good-faith reporting and cooperation in investigations.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

If you have employees in US and you don't have a similar policy that's available for all US employees, you should include this policy in your employee handbook for US-based employees. 

The laws state:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Section 2000e-10. [Section 711]

(a) Every employer, employment agency, and labor organization, as the case may be, shall post and keep posted in conspicuous places upon its premises where notices to employees, applicants for employment, and members are customarily posted a notice to be prepared or approved by the Commission setting forth excerpts from or, summaries of, the pertinent provisions of this subchapter and information pertinent to the filing of a complaint.

ADA (42 U.S.C. 12115)

Every employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee covered under this subchapter shall post notices in an accessible format to applicants, employees, and members describing the applicable provisions of this chapter, in the manner prescribed by section 2000e-10 of this title.

 

ADEA SEC. 627. [Section 8]

Every employer, employment agency, and labor organization shall post and keep posted in conspicuous places upon its premises a notice to be prepared or approved by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission setting forth information as the Commission deems appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.

Your employee handbook is a great place to post information in addition to any official posters.

Other Considerations

This mostly applies to US employers who have at least 15 employees working in the US, with age discrimination kicking in at 20 employees.

Exceptions

None.