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Subject: Harassment                                       Effective:                          

Supersedes:                                                        Revised:          

Author:                                                              Approved by:                            
                                                                                           Chair Board of Health
____________________________________________________________________

Purpose:

This policy is established to provide a means of fairly, reasonably and effectively addressing harassment affecting the workplace.

Philosophy:

This policy is intended to insure that Health Department employees and the clients it serves be free of safety hazards and reduced worker efficiency resulting from use of controlled substances or intoxicants such as alcoholic beverages.

Policy/Procedures:

The Health Department seeks to establish and maintain a harmonious nondiscriminatory working environment for all employees.  It is the intent of this policy to encourage dialogue among employees to deal with problematic behaviors before major incidents occur.  Harassment of any kind is unacceptable conduct and may be prohibited by law, and will not be tolerated.

Definitions:

1.      Prohibited harassment includes verbal or written comments, slurs, innuendoes, pranks, and/or physical harassment which is derogatory on the basis of a person's race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or veteran status.

2.      In addition to the above, sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.  

3.      Sexual harassment is expressly prohibited by state and federal anti-discrimination laws when:

A.     Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment;

B.     Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment decisions;

C.     Such conduct has the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

Policy/Procedures:

The Department will take an active role in protecting its employees from harassment.  Should an instance of inappropriate or illegal behavior occur, it is the employee's responsibility to bring the complaint to the attention of management.  This includes employees who think they are the recipients of harassment, as well as those who believe they have witnessed another employee being harassed.  Further, management staff who do not take action when they know or suspect that harassment is occurring, will also be subject to disciplinary action according to the seriousness of the misconduct.

All complaints of harassment will be promptly investigated.  In all cases, the complaint and investigation of harassment shall be handled in as confidential manner as possible.  Retaliation of any kind against an employee making a complaint of harassment in good faith is strictly prohibited.

Responsibilities:

If an employee believes that he/she is being or has been harassed, the employee should immediately identify the offensive behavior to the harasser and request that it stop.  If the employee does not wish to talk directly to the harasser or if the offending behavior does not stop, then the employee should immediately report the harassment to a supervisor, assistant director, director or Department administrative staff (Health Officer, Deputy Administrator, Human Resources Coordinator).  The individual receiving a report of harassment will promptly notify Human Resources or Administration.

A complaint may be either oral or written.  In the case of an oral complaint, the individual receiving the complaint will complete and sign a written report of the complaint.  The written report should include a specific description of the offensive conduct, date(s) of occurrence(s), the individuals involved and any witnesses.

The complaint will be immediately investigated.  The investigation may include interviews with the involved parties, and where necessary, with employees or others who may have observed the incident or who may be similarly situated with the complaining employee and able to confirm or deny similar experiences.  All employees filing a complaint regarding harassment shall receive a written response to their complaint.

If the investigation shows that the accused employee did engage in harassment, corrective action will be taken.  Such action will be either an immediate disciplinary action up to and including termination or a warning that any continued harassment will result in further disciplinary action up to and including termination.

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Last Update : 10/07/2004 03:15 PM
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