Rhode Island’s workplace sexual harassment policy just got stricter, and many local businesses may not realize it.
An amendment, proposed in January by Sen. Catherine E. Graziano, (D- Providence, Johnston and North Providence) — requiring all businesses to maintain a written record of their sexual harassment policy on premises, and to make that policy available to any state or federal employment discrimination agency – is now in place, having been adopted without the signature of Gov. Lincoln Almond — and without the knowledge of many business owners.
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While the state has had a law pertaining to sexual harassment in the workplace on the books since 1997, the changes make enforcement of such policies easier.
“Most employers already have a written policy and I think it should be in a place where employees have access to it,” said Graziano. “This is just an attempt to get people to be a little more responsible.”
For one business owner the new law, and its implications, aren’t that clear cut.
“This became an amendment to a law all of sudden,” said Roger Messier, of Butler & Messier Inc., a Pawtucket-based insurance company. “(This bill) is really about employment practices and liability and we didn’t know about it. That concerns me.”
Stephen Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the bill isn’t making “any substantive changes” to the law, but instead is “clarifying obligations” already in place.
“This makes a lot of sense for employers and employees,” he said. “This way everybody is on clear notice on to what is permissible and what is not. This law can only provide greater protection for employers and employees.”
Graziano has been trying for several years to get this bill passed.
“There has been some reluctance on the part of some legislators and businesses,” she said. “The idea that they would be forced to do something else, or that there would be an increased cost I think were the cause for that.”
Graziano said she had friends that worked at a place where there were no written policies.
“They had an instance where something had occurred that perhaps should not have, and it was a hard issue to address,” she said. “When it’s clear what the rules are, it’s not as hard to misinterpret.”
Brown agreed.
“This is obviously very important,” he said. “It helps employers in terms of protection from liability and it helps employees in terms of knowing about filing complaints and understanding the parameters.”
