Q: I’m a mid-level supervisor working in a large company.  I just completed a sexual harassment training, and have only now noticed that one of the pictures in our break room is a partial female nude.  The painting is a copy by a famous artist, but should I be worried that employees might find it offensive?

A: I’ve seen this phenomenon many times before: Employees attend a sexual harassment training to increase their awareness of the law, and for the next few days and weeks said employees begin to see “possible” sexual harassment everywhere.

They might be reluctant to complement a colleague. A simple “You look nice today”, might be quickly followed by a worried “is that OK?”. True story.

It looks like you might be one of those employees who might now be over compensating and over worrying .

At the training, you hopefully learned that harassment is not only about sex -which is the most common type- but harassment also includes actions based on race, religion, nationality –and any other protected class under Title VII.

Having conducted many of these trainings myself, I jokingly like to say that part of my job is to make attendees a little paranoid. It sounds like you’re presenter did a good job.

In any case, here some questions that might help you determine if the picture could be troublesome:

• Has the picture been there for years? Do people notice the picture or comment on it? If the picture has been a fixture of the break room for years and is not something that current or new employees notice or comment on, that’s a good sign.
• Would the picture be considered art? You mention that it is by a famous artist. It’s helpful if it’s a familiar, well known image, and in good taste, those are all positives.
• Are there nudes in other places for example the lobby, hallways, conference rooms? That might be a little creepy and need to be addressed.

I think it’s good that you are being conscientious about what you learned, but I doubt you have reason to worry that the picture alone is making it a sexually charged work environment, absent other contributing factors.

Honestly, I would be more concerned about possibly offending an employee based on their religious beliefs and sensitivity -some Christian and Muslim faiths are particularly modest.

If ever in doubt, remember to consult HR.

©Copyright Eva Del Rio

Eva Del Rio is creator of HR Box™ – tools for small businesses and startups. Send questions to Eva@evadelrio.com