Amid waves of sexual harassment claims in the restaurant industry over the past half year, the National Restaurant Association said Thursday that it is adding sexual harassment prevention training to its ServSafe program.
The new program, called ServSafe Workplace, will be available through free webinars offered during the summer months, the association said.
ServSafe Workplace is “focused on creating and sustaining a positive work environment for the restaurant and hospitality industries,” the association said in a statement.
“ServSafe Workplace is poised to become a comprehensive suite of training programs that equips employees and managers with the information they need to help manage emerging risks and advance the positive culture of the foodservice and hospitality industries,” said Sherman Brown, the association’s executive vice president of training and certification, in a press release.
In addition, the association said it is partnering with the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance to expand the ServSafe Workplace platform later this year to include training on ways to help managers and their teams identify and manage unconscious bias in the workplace.
That partnership announcement comes just two days after Starbucks Corp. closed 8,000 stores for a four-hour bias training program in the wake of a racial profiling incident in April.
Dawn Sweeney, the NRA president and CEO, said in a statement that sexual harassment cannot be tolerated, among customers, colleagues or managers.
“Our industry — like so many others — is confronting this challenge as our collective awareness has increased about this problem in society,” Sweeney said. “ServSafe Workplace is designed to help prevent and respond to this behavior in the workplace.”
The National Restaurant Association represents more than 380,000 restaurant locations.
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