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Why aren’t anti-harassment policies more effective at preventing harassment? The answer may lie in ineffective training and the failure of employers to follow their own policies.

Take solace in the fact that unless workplace animosity creates a truly hostile environment, allegations of discrimination or harassment won’t succeed in court unless an employee can prove that a co-worker targeted him because of protected characteristics such as race, gender, religion or national origin.

The legal and regulatory landscape surrounding workplace harassment is shifting rapidly, leaving many HR professionals wondering how to stay compliant while maintaining a fair and inclusive work environment. HR teams must be prepared to endure heightened scrutiny and conflicting guidance.

The cost of defending even a meritless lawsuit can run into the thousands of dollars. One way to prevent such costs and embarrassment is to teach supervisors to avoid angering employees in the first place. Train them to be aware of these four common mistakes.

A “microaggression” is a subtle, often unintentional comment or action that conveys bias or discrimination against a marginalized group. In the right circumstances, however, microaggressions can also amount to an adverse action that supports a workplace retaliation claim.

A startling 46% of employees say they have witnessed workplace harassment in the past five years, according to the new State of Workplace Harassment Report from Traliant. Its survey of more than 2,000 U.S. workers reveals critical gaps in how organizations prevent harassment and respond to it—gaps that Traliant says could cost employers both money and talent.

It’s crucial for HR to educate teen workers about your anti-harassment policies and work rules before they begin work.

With February comes Valentine’s Day, as good an excuse as any to review your policies so employees understand there are limits on how, where and when they can embrace the spirit of romance at work.

Ignoring an employee’s complaints that she was subject to ongoing sexual harassment just cost an employer more than $2 million. The EEOC sued on the employee’s behalf and won the largest damages award it has ever obtained in the Northern District of Texas, among the most conservative federal courts in the nation.

Juries tend to harshly punish employers that ignore harassment complaints and let the abuse continue. But occasionally, a jury decides it’s not enough to punish the employer; they punish the harasser, too.