Harassment and Bias Prevention Training Program 2020/2021

Updated February 2021

Most organizations periodically train their personnel to recognize, avoid and report workplace discrimination, including harassment and both intentional and unintentional bias. To ensure that CSG-qualified public media stations consistently follow this practice, CPB requires annual harassment and bias prevention training for all officers (examples: President and CEO, Vice President, COO, CFO and General Manager), employees (full-time and part-time who are paid a salary or hourly wage), and interns (paid and unpaid) as a condition of the Grantee’s eligibility for a radio or television Community Service Grant (CSG). Stations can use a harassment and bias prevention training program of their choice or, starting May 1, 2021, they can use a program that CPB will offer at no charge to stations that covers:

What constitutes acceptable and unacceptable workplace behavior;
How to recognize harassment and bias when it occurs; and
How to report and respond to violations.

Because CPB’s primary objective is creating a safe environment at your station, this no-cost training is also available for stations that wish to train personnel who are not officers, employees, or interns. This may include volunteers, contractors, board members and others that the station selects because of the frequency of their presence in the workplace.

Grantees may satisfy the Harassment and Bias Prevention Requirement through either of the following training options:

A harassment and bias prevention training program of your choice. For this option, you must keep records of all personnel who were trained each year as proof of compliance. Your program will satisfy the requirement if it instructs your personnel, either in person or online, on the three topics listed above.

CPB’s interactive online harassment and bias prevention training service, available May 1, 2021. Updates will be provided here shortly on how to register for the new training.

Grantees will have until October 1, 2021, to complete their training to qualify for their FY2022 CSG.

Head of Grantees and Licensee Officials must certify their station’s compliance with this requirement in the FY2022 CSG Agreement and Certification of Eligibility which is scheduled to be released in CPB’s Integrated Station Information System in early November 2021.

We know you share our commitment to maintaining a work environment that promotes inclusion and is free from all forms of discrimination, harassment, and bias. CPB appreciates your cooperation with this requirement. For additional information, please see the FAQs below. If you still have questions, please contact us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who must take the Harassment and Bias Prevention Training (HBPT) for the purposes of CSG Certification?

Individuals REQUIRED to take the training for the purposes of CSG Certification are station employees (full-time and part-time who are paid a salary or hourly wage), officers (examples: President and CEO, Vice President, COO, CFO and General Manager), as well as interns (paid or unpaid).

Does everyone need to take this training every year?

The harassment and bias prevention training requirement is an annual requirement, meaning officers, employees and interns will have to complete HPBT once every fiscal year to remain compliant with CSG requirements.

Are stations obligated to conduct HPBT for contractors or temp employees hired by an outside agency?

Our biggest priority is creating a safe workplace for all individuals at your stations. CPB will provide, at no cost to your station, additional licenses to train individuals who you wish to train because they are present in the workplace but are not station officers, employees or interns. Those individuals may include volunteers, contractors, board members or any other personnel you choose.

Are my university administrators required to take the training?

People who do not work directly for the station are not subject to this CSG requirement. Examples include university administrators; Board of Regents members; Community Licensee Board Members; School Board members; and members of your Community Advisory Board (CAB).

Do you have to go back to employees that have resigned and are not on the payroll at the time of the training?

No, you do not have to train personnel who have left the organization.However, you must ensure that all personnel with the station, as of October 1, 2021, have taken either a training of your choice or the CPB provided training prior to submitting your CSG Agreement and Certification of Eligibility for FY2022.

We can and will use our university training which meets the criteria. However, interns are not able to access this. Can we use both the no-cost training provided by CPB for interns and the university program for everyone else?

Yes.

What do you recommend for an organization that hires staff and student workers almost continuously?

We recommend that you implement the harassment and bias prevention training as part of the on-boarding process for new personnel.

What if all the people on my staff haven’t taken the training by October 1, 2021?

Your station will not be able to certify compliance in your FY2022 CSG Agreement and Certification of Eligibility until all officers, employees and interns have taken harassment and bias prevention training.

If we don’t have everyone trained by October 1, 2021, we risk not receiving our first CSG payment in a timely manner, is there also a penalty?

There is no penalty but CSG payments may be delayed for not completing the harassment prevention training requirement on time as you will not be able to certify your FY2022 CSG Agreement and Certification of Eligibility.

If we don’t use the no-cost training provided by CPB, how do I know if the training that my station employees take will be sufficient? Also, will CPB review and approve my Harassment and Bias Prevention Training program?

CPB will not evaluate and approve alternative training programs. Your station must determine whether it covers the following topics necessary to qualify:

What constitutes acceptable and unacceptable workplace behavior;
How to recognize harassment and bias when it occurs; and
How to report and respond to violations.

I am wondering how grantees will be expected to track this requirement. It covers literally every employee and intern – in our case, this will be over 200 people and some of whom come and go throughout the year.

Stations that use alternative training programs must maintain adequate documentation to show compliance. The training CPB provides automatically tracks use of the program so your station will have an electronic record of who has taken and completed the training.

My station is using its own training. What record-keeping do we have to do to prove all employees completed training?

Regardless of the training program used, you are responsible for keeping accurate records of your personnel’s participation. You may use a program’s certificates if offered or a concurrent sign-in sheet for participants that identifies the program and the date it was completed.

How long does it take to complete the training provided by CPB?

The training takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Can we use the training provided by CPB as a group training (like in an all staff)?

The training was created to train personnel individually. However, any alternative training that you decide to use can be done in a group setting.

What are my options for using the training provided by CPB with staff who are not proficient in English?

Please contact us at csg@cpb.org to discuss options for getting staff, including those not proficient in English, in compliance with the harassment prevention requirement.

Will the CPB-provided training cover sexual harassment prevention only, or other topics like bias prevention?

The training will address all forms of harassment prevention, bias prevention, and inclusion in the workplace.

Will CPB verify training completion? Or will CPB rely on our station's certification?

No. Your Head of Grantee and Licensee Official must certify the station’s compliance with this new requirement in the FY2022 CSG Agreement and Certification of Eligibility which stations will receive in early November 2021. Any reports, sign-in sheets, certificates or notes should be retained for audit purposes.

Is the harassment prevention training requirement in lieu of the requirement that at least one person on our staff must annually complete at least one CPB-sponsored compliance training?

No. This training requirement is in addition to your annual CSG compliance training requirement.

For State University Licensees who do Title IX training already, what will we need to do to verify that our training meets all requirements (if we use our current training, rather than the option CPB is offering)?

You must determine whether the Title IX training is comparable to the CPB-provided training, as explained above.