#MeToo also important at smaller businesses
If you don’t have rules in place, you should
Harvey Weinstein. Bill Cosby. Kevin Spacey.
No, there apparently is no shortage of accused sexual predators roaming Hollywood. And, while there have been stories galore over the years about the creeps and their casting couches, it wasn’t until the #MeToo movement that women really were able to get the word out about the seriousness of the issue and, if not put an end to it, at least shine a light on it.
And that begs the question: Will there be a #MeToo moment for small business? It is not an insignificant question: Just about half of all employees in this country work for a small business. While a “small business” is defined by the Small Business Administration as any company with fewer than 500 employees, the vast majority of employees work for companies with
20 or fewer employees, the Census Bureau notes.
Generally speaking, these smaller small businesses differ from big business in that they tend not to have either policies or procedures in place for handling such actions. The reason for this is two-fold:
❚ First, the very nature of a small business is that it is informal and personal. When you combine that collegial culture with the fact that the person who would handle any such issue is the hands-on owner, the upshot is that few small businesses feel the need for an actual policy against sexual harassment. The owner thinks he (or she) knows what is going on.
❚ Second, having such policies is not legally mandated for companies with fewer than 15 employees.
Let me put my old lawyer hat on and suggest that if you are a small business without a formal policy in place, it would behoove you to create one.
For starters, you want the women in your employ to feel safe, secure and comfortable. A well-documented and shared anti-harassment policy and procedure does just that; it tells everyone that you have a zero-tolerance attitude toward sexual misconduct.
Second, the risks of not having such a policy in place as your business grows are significant. Should one of your employees become a #MeToo victim in your smaller workplace, the potential for upheaval in your office is great. Work will suffer, morale will suffer, customer service will suffer ... you will all suffer.
So, sit down with your attorney and devise a sexual-harassment policy and complaint procedure that makes sense for your company. It should include a simple, confidential process for reporting sexual misconduct, and it should offer employees a process for managing the issue.
Steve Strauss, @Steve Strauss on Twitter, is a lawyer specializing in small business and entrepreneurship who has been writing for USATODAY .com for 20 years. Email: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com. You can learn more about Steve at MrAllBiz.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.