Certification

How It Was Developed

Purple Certification is a first-of-its-kind program specifically focused on addressing workplace misconduct with the goal of recognizing employers taking exemplary steps and implementing best practices in the field. The certification program is centered around our unique four-part method.

Pilot Partners:

The initial participating organizations were from the technology sector and included Airbnb, Amazon, Expedia, Uber, and Viasat. The pilot partners completed a survey of currently implemented policies and practices, which was used to benchmark existing practices and develop certification criteria. Conversations with corporate leaders and policy experts, trainings, and additional research were conducted to understand how employers were adapting to work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This additional research has further influenced the evolution of the certification program to ensure it addresses workplace misconduct within an ever-changing workforce.

The Research

The certification program was developed in partnership with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and the Urban Institute. NSVRC is the leading nonprofit in providing information and tools to prevent and respond to sexual violence. NSVRC translates research and trends into best practices that help individuals, communities, and service providers achieve real and lasting change. The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that believes decisions shaped by facts, rather than ideology, have the power to improve public policy and practice, strengthen communities, and transform people’s lives for the better.

Together, this team analyzed the results of its research and selected criteria on which to index participating organizations for the first certification program to address harassment in the workplace. The criteria were chosen because of their relative importance to addressing workplace misconduct and because of the opportunity they present to create lasting change.

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