December 07, 2017 NEW! Online Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Training videos in Japanese

Sexual harassment has been in the news lately, a reminder that companies operating in the U.S. need to take this issue seriously.

For over 20 years Japan Intercultural Consulting has provided sexual harassment and discrimination prevention training conducted in Japanese to Japanese-affiliated companies in the U.S. Responding to requests from our clients, we are now offering an online version of this course.

Course links:
National version
California version
Connecticut version

We have prepared three versions of the course. The first is the national version, a comprehensive course designed to help Japanese staff understand the U.S. legal environment so that they can avoid problematic behaviors and promote a healthy workplace environment. It includes explanation of how discrimination is defined and viewed in the U.S., the EEOC guidelines concerning sexual harassment, specific examples of what behaviors constitute sexual harassment, topics that should be avoided in interviews and other conversations, what to do if you are a victim of sexual harassment, and how to respond to a complaint. A quiz and case studies are designed to hold interest and tie the contents to real-life business situations.

In addition, we have created California and Connecticut specific versions, designed for people working in those states or managing people working in those states. These courses supplement the national course with information on state-specific laws. These courses are designed to meet California and Connecticut’s requirements that companies with more than fifty employees provide sexual harassment prevention training to all supervisory employees (AB 1825, AB 2053, and Senate Bill 396 in California, and Section 46a-54 (15) (B) and 46a-54-204 in Connecticut). The California course is fully updated and satisfies the recently-added requirements to cover abusive conduct as well as harassment based on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.

The videos are screencasts narrated by Japan Intercultural Consulting’s Managing Principal Rochelle Kopp in Japanese using Japanese language visuals. Being able to take this training in their native language will help ensure full absorption of all the concepts by the participants. The contents are also have a particular focus on areas where laws and customs differ between Japan and the U.S.

These online courses are a convenient way to deliver important information to Japanese employees as soon as they arrive in the U.S., and to employees at remote locations. We also recommend that people visiting from Japan on business trips or short term assignments take this course to ensure that they adhere to American expectations during their time in the U.S.

If you have more than 20 employees who you would like to take the course, please contact us for information about volume discounts or inclusion on your company’s e-learning platform.

Although these courses provide a thorough grounding in the key concepts, we do recommend that companies also offer in-person sessions to provide for more interaction and more in-depth coverage. Also, if there have been any issues or complaints at your firm, we recommend doing an in-person session to ensure that all Japanese employees have a complete understanding and that any questions or concerns they have are addressed. Also helpful if you have had a complaint, our bilingual consultants are also experienced in providing one-on-one coaching to expatriates who need to change their behavior to better fit with the U.S. workplace environment. For information about onsite sessions or coaching, please contact us.

We are excited to offer this new tool to our clients to address this important topic.

Note: Japan Intercultural Consulting is not a law firm, Rochelle Kopp is not an attorney and these training programs do not constitute legal advice.