VA POLICY ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT

April 1997

The Department of Veterans Affairs considers sexual harassment a very serious matter and is working hard to ensure that it is eliminated throughout VA. Since women comprise 54.5 percent of VA's total workforce, VA considers it essential to provide them with a positive work environment that enhances their professionalism and careers.

It is VA policy that sexual harassment is unacceptable conduct and will not be tolerated. This policy was reinforced and strengthened by Secretary Jesse Brown shortly following his confirmation as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

The latest comparative statistics available from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for FY '95 show sexual harassment governmentwide constituting 2.7 percent of the total allegations filed, while at VA during the same period it was 3.7 percent. Compared to the entire federal government, VA's sexual harassment complaints, as a percentage of all complaints, run a bit higher than the governmentwide average. However, no other federal agency has devoted as much time to training on sexual harassment as VA has, and it is not surprising that VA's sexual harassment complaint activity is higher. These statistics also reflect an increase in the informal resolution rate for sexual harassment complaints as well as timely handling of such complaints.

EARLY INITIATIVES

Secretary Brown is strongly committed to the prevention and elimination of sexual harassment in VA. In early 1993, he directed every component within the department to convey to all employees that there will be zero tolerance for sexual harassment. Secretary Brown made the following statements in a memo to all employees:

• Sexual harassment is inappropriate and unacceptable conduct that will not be tolerated. Allegations of sexual harassment must be addressed immediately and all employees raising complaints of discrimination must be provided prompt, fair, and impartial review and handling of their complaints.
  
• All managers and supervisors will be held accountable for taking an active role in ensuring that employees under their supervision are treated fairly.
  
• VA is committed to expanding EEO training and awareness activities and to taking whatever other actions are required to achieve a VA workplace free from discrimination and sexual harassment.

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Sexual Harassment -- Page 2

Also in 1993, Secretary Brown had several significant changes incorporated into VA policies governing employee conduct regarding sexual harassment:

• Certified training for EEO counselors before they counsel any employees;
  
• The right of choice for employees in selecting an EEO counselor from among the counselors serving the facility;
  
• Monitoring of the sufficiency of EEO complaint processing operations by VA's Office of Equal Opportunity.

On Feb. 25, 1993, VA moved to suspend decentralization of discrimination complaints processing and established an additional review level for complaints of sexual harassment simultaneously at the field facility and regional director level. An additional review of sexual harassment complaints filed occurs in VA headquarters.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Sexual harassment training is conducted by the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and VA administrations. These offices trained more than 300,000 employees, providing a minimum of four hours training for all employees on the prevention of sexual harassment and the discrimination complaint process and continuing education thereafter.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) authorized each field office to hire additional EEO specialists to strengthen program oversight, including sexual harassment complaints. VHA also plans to implement a new system to track and analyze discrimination complaint activity in VHA.

VHA employs approximately 194,000 employees, and nearly 58 percent of the workforce is female. The Under Secretary for Health re-issued policy on "sexual harassment in VHA facilities" in 1995, bringing to more than 37,000 the number of managers and supervisors with EEO training. The training includes a 90-minute module on defining, identifying and eliminating sexual harassment from the workplace.

The VA Law Enforcement Training Center provides sexual harassment training for newly appointed Chiefs of Police and Security Service. The first class was conducted in October 1992.

OTHER INITIATIVES

VA's Office of Equal Opportunity:

• Developed and distributed a four-page brochure "The Prevention of Sexual Harassment in the Department of Veterans Affairs."
  
• Developed a "Prevention of Sexual Harassment for Supervisors and Managers Training module, which can be presented in a 3- or 5-hour format.
  
• Distributed to field stations and throughout VA headquarters an ongoing stream of information and literature on all EEO issues, including articles on sexual harassment issues and court decisions.
  
• Publishes the newsletter "EEO Update."

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Sexual Harassment -- Page 3

VA has a Sexual Harassment Hotline in the Office of Equal Opportunity to assist employees. By calling the toll-free number, 1-800-767-0184, individuals are able to get information about the process of filing an EEO complaint, check the status of claims already filed, or obtain general information and assistance on the EEO process.

RECENT ACTIONS

A task force comprised of individuals from the field, regional offices and central office has been activated to assess where VA stands on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. A nationwide survey is being conducted as part of the assessment and results of that survey are expected by the end of June 1997.

In recent weeks, Secretary Brown has moved to strengthen VA employee protections by taking two additional actions:

• to ensure a consistent approach in treating allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct against senior VA executives, all such allegations and recommendations for dealing with them will be brought to the attention of a committee drawn from senior staff in VA headquarters before actions is taken to resolve the matter;
  
• to ensure the department has a more comprehensive understanding of sexual harassment complaints within VA and that effective oversight is conducted at the policy level, the Office of Equal Opportunity is charged with developing aggregate information on all sexual harassment cases within VA, regardless of the formal handling processes (EEO, Inspector General, employee union, or other administrative boards).

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