Bystander Intervention Awareness Training

Have you witnessed harassment and didn’t know what to do?

Protecting your organization and your employees against harassment is everyone’s responsibility. We all want a better, safer world for all, one that is void of incivility, harassment, violence and discrimination.

TAP Series' Bystander Intervention Awareness Training provides a proactive awareness to preventing and reacting to undesirable situations and scenarios. The course effectively raises awareness and how bystanders can intervene safely and effectively.

Learning Objectives:

• Define what a bystander is
• Define inappropriate behaviors
• Understand how to de-escalate inappropriate behaviors.
• Understand How to assess the situation and circumstances before making any decisions or taking any action.
• Identify scenarios where bystanders can intervene
• Demonstrate your understanding of inappropriate situations and behaviors.

City of Chicago

Mayor Lightfoot and the Commission on Human Relations amended the city's sexual harassment laws in April 2022 to make them stronger and to uphold zero tolerance of violence and harassment in the workplace.

Employers within the city of Chicago have new and expanded obligations to provide training to employees and supervisors on sexual harassment prevention and how bystanders should respond to sexual harassment. Article 6 ("Worker Protections").

Requirements

Employees must participate in the following training annually:

• A minimum of one hour of sexual-harassment-prevention training for all employees.
• A minimum of two hours of sexual-harassment-prevention training for anyone who supervises or manages employees.
• One hour of bystander training for all employees.

The training requirement goes into effect July 1, 2022. Therefore, all employers must conduct the required trainings on an annual basis beginning July 1, 2022.

Employers also must retain written records of the policies and trainings given to each employee, as well as other records necessary to show compliance with the ordinance. The records must be retained for a period of at least five years or the duration of any claim, civil action or investigation pending pursuant to the ordinance, whichever is longer. Failure to maintain the required records creates a presumption (rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence) that the employer violated the ordinance.

A person who violates the sections of the ordinance prohibiting sexual harassment, defining the mandatory elements of the policy, and mandating annual training is subject to a fine ranging between $500 and $1,000 per day.