Addressing Workplace Sexual Harassment: Public Policy Solutions for Utah

Did you know that 58% of women have experienced sex-based harassment? Sadly, only 30% told a supervisor and less than 13% filed a formal legal complaint. In Utah, a study by the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) found 37% of women heard sexually based comments, yet only 4% reported them to a supervisor.

Workplace sexual harassment causes harm, negatively affecting mental and physical health, reducing opportunities for on-the-job learning and advancement, forcing individuals into job changes, unemployment, and/or abandonment of well-paying careers. Sexual harassment also harms employers, causing reputational damage, legal costs, increased staff turnover, increased absences, and reduced productivity.

With 62.5% of Utah women in the labor force, Utah lawmakers need to act on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s call to reduce workplace sexual harassment in our state. According to the EEOC: “Everyone in society must feel a sense of urgency in preventing harassment.”

Key Findings

In 2022, the UWLP published a white paper, “Addressed Workplace Sexual Harassment: Public Policy Solutions for Utah .” The key findings from a variety of sources included:

• Workplace harassment remains a persistent problem.?
• Workplace harassment too often goes unreported.??
• There is a compelling business case for stopping and preventing harassment.??
• Prevention starts at the top; leadership and accountability are critical.??
• Harassment training must change. New and different approaches to training should be explored.?

More recently, in the fall of 2023 UWLP conducted a survey of nearly 3,000 Utahns and 83.5% agreed or strongly agreed that sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination are problems in Utah. This sends a clear message to Utah leaders in all types of workplaces (e.g., business, government, politics, education, and nonprofit) that it is time for change. However, one of the most troubling findings from this study is that Utah employees, particularly women, do not trust that organizations in the state will appropriately handle a sexual harassment situation if it is reported. Trust is essential if Utah women are going to feel safe.

Recommendations for Utah

Based on UWLP’s extensive research, we propose the following three areas of recommendations for Utah legislative action.?

1. Require prevention measures and provide employer tools, such as requiring employers to conduct recurrent sexual harassment training; require employers to post notice of sexual harassment rights; and require employers to distribute written sexual harassment policies.
2. According to Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, 16 of the 21 female legislators in the House have been sexually harassed in the workplace. There is proposed legislation before the 2024 Legislature to reduce retaliation (see HB55 ). Amendments to the bill would make non-disclosure agreements confidentiality clauses voidable and unenforceable if they prevent employees from discussing sexual assault and sexual harassment cases or allegations, in addition to disclosing the existence of settlements related to those types of incidents. This is a great opportunity for legislators to show their support for individuals who have experienced sexual harassment, and also to encourage leaders of all kinds of institutions to increase their sensitivity and response to serious efforts for preventing such incidents to begin with.
3. Remove barriers to legal redress. Doing so will reduce workplace sexual harassment by facilitating timely resolution.

?Conclusion

Unfortunately, workplace sexual harassment continues to happen today in Utah and is vastly under-reported. This harassment causes extensive harms to the individuals harassed, and damage to organizations. The Utah Legislature has been called upon to act to reduce workplace sexual harassment. To answer this call, Utah’s legislature should require workplace sexual harassment prevention measures, take steps to reduce retaliation that occurs once sexual harassment concerns are raised in the workplace, and remove barriers to legally redress harassment. These actions will provide helpful compliance tools to Utah employers and modernize Utah’s Antidiscrimination Act, which, as time has shown, left much to be done to significantly reduce workplace sexual harassment.?

To learn more, read?the full white paper ?or review?the executive summary .?

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?Dr. Susan R. Madsen is a global thought leader, author, speaker, and scholar on the topic of women and leadership. She is also the Karen Haight Huntsman Endowed Professor of Leadership in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University and the Founding Director of the?Utah Women & Leadership Project . Thank you to the authors of the white paper: Katie Hudman, Trish Hatch, and Elise Johnson.

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