Preventing Sexual Harassment of Teen Workers

As the summer approaches and schools let out, more and more teenagers are going to be looking for part-time jobs to earn some extra money while they’re off. This is a great way for them to get some work experience. 

Unfortunately, many teens experience sexual harassment on the job. And unless their employer educates them about what sexual harassment is, they won’t know they’re being harassed and won’t know what to do about it. 

Be aware that summer jobs are often first jobs for many teens, and they are coming into the workplace a bit naive to things. So employers need to make it their business to have an informational session with all teen employees before allowing them to work. In this session, the employers should explain to them the rules regarding working there (including any regulations on hours worked or types of jobs they can/can’t do), the important policies in the employee handbook (like anti-harassment policies and guidelines for appropriate conduct), as well as train them about sexual harassment being illegal, give them examples of what sexual harassment is, and explain the complaint process—who to report to and what they should do if someone is offending or harassing them. 

And the training shouldn’t stop there. All employees should be trained about sexual harassment. If all employees are educated on what it is, how to report an incident and then sign a document stating that they received this training and are aware of the company policies, then all incidents reported will be easier to take care of. 

This training and acknowledgment may also eliminate a lot of harassment from the beginning. If employees know their employer means business, they are going to be less likely to break the rules for fear of losing their job. 

If my employer from the summer before I turned 15 had trained us, then I wouldn’t have spent more than three months being horribly sexually harassed, because I would’ve known what it was and would’ve reported it. But being that I was only 14 at the time, I had no idea that I was being sexually harassed when the guys who worked in the back started making comments about my looks, telling me I looked like Britney Spears (I used to have blond hair), and then brought in pictures of her from her controversial Rolling Stone cover (in which she posed in her bra and underwear) and asked me to autograph them (which I didn’t), and then hung the pictures all over the back room so when I went in there I had to see them. 

And it got even worse than that. 

At one point, the owner’s nephew developed a crush on me and kept asking me out. And I kept telling him no over and over again. And then his nephew started “stalking” me. He overheard me telling another co-worker that I was attending the community fair over the weekend, and so he showed up on the night I was there, and he and his friends followed me around, calling names at me and making rude remarks. 

And I continued to work in this uncomfortable, negative environment because I didn’t know that it was supposed to be any different. I assumed that the guys who worked there were just “being guys” and that it was ok for them to talk to me like that. Had I of known it was illegal, I would’ve reported it. But instead, I was forced into quitting a job that I enjoyed because I was so sick of constantly having guys call me “Britney Spears” and asking me to autograph pictures of her. 

And the best part was, when I left that job and went to another job (where I still had no idea what sexual harassment was and still received no sexual harassment training), they ALSO started telling me I looked like Britney Spears and making other comments about my appearance. 

It wasn’t until I took a job at a grocery store during college, and sat through a weekend’s worth of training, only to quit after my first shift because all the male cashiers were making bets on “who would get to sleep with me first,” that I started to realize this kind of behavior is not acceptable. 

Now my early work experiences are probably extreme cases. I doubt that these days it would get that bad. Back when I was a teen employee, workplace sexual harassment wasn’t really a hot topic (or something that was even talked about too often, that I can recall). But to be sure that this kind of behavior isn’t happening in your workplace, you should sit down with all your employees prior to their first shift and explain to them what sexual harassment is and give them examples of it, and let them know that this behavior is unacceptable. And make sure they realize that they won’t get fired for reporting anyone who makes them feel uncomfortable.   

Only you can keep your employees safe from sexual harassment.

For more information about the laws and regulations regarding teen workers, visit the OSHA teen workers page.

As the summer approaches and schools let out, more and more teenagers are going to be looking for part-time jobs to earn some extra money while they’re off. This is a great way for them to get some work experience.