Policy: 148

Productive Work Environment


Procedure:

  1. Employees are expected to maintain a productive work environment that is free from harassing or disruptive activity. No form of harassment will be tolerated, including harassment for the following reasons: race, national origin, religion, disability, pregnancy, age, military status, or sex. Special attention should be paid to the prohibition of sexual harassment.
  2. Each supervisor and administrator has a responsibility to keep the workplace free of any form of harassment, and in particular, sexual harassment. No supervisor or administrator is to threaten or insinuate, either explicitly or implicitly, that an employee's refusal or willingness to submit to sexual advances will affect the employee's terms or conditions of employment.
  3. Other sexually harassing or offensive conduct in the workplace, whether committed by supervisors, administrator, nonsupervisory employees, or nonemployees, is also prohibited. This conduct includes:
    1. Unwanted physical contact or conduct of any kind, including sexual flirtations, touching, advances, or propositions.
    2. Verbal abuse of a sexual nature.
    3. Demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive comments about an individual's dress or body.
    4. The display in the workplace of demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive objects or pictures, inc1uding nude photographs.
    5. Demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive written, recorded, or electronically transmitted messages.
    Any of the above conduct, or other offensive conduct, directed at individuals because of their race, national origin, religion, disability, pregnancy, age, or military status is also prohibited.
  4. Any employee who believes that a supervisor's, administrator, other employee's, or non-employee's actions or words constitute unwelcome harassment has a responsibility to report or complain about the situation as soon as possible. The report or complaint should be made to the employee's supervisor, or to the Administrator or Human Resources Administrator if the complaint involves the supervisor or administrator.
  5. Complaints of harassment are to be handled and investigated under MDCBDSN's grievance policy unless special procedures are considered appropriate. Regardless, all complaints of harassment are to be investigated promptly and in as impartial and confidential a manner as possible. Employees are required to cooperate in any investigation. A timely resolution of each compliant should be reached and communicated to the parties involved. Retaliation against any employee for filing a compliant or participating in an investigation is strictly prohibited.
  6. Any employee, supervisor, or administrator who is found to have violated the harassment policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination. MDCBDSN prohibits any form of retaliation against employees for bringing bona fide complaints or providing information about harassment. However, if an investigation of a complaint shows that the complaint or information was false, the individual who provided the false information will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Purpose

It is the policy of MDCBDSN to promote a productive work environment and not to tolerate verbal or physical conduct by any employee that harasses, disrupts, or interferes with another's work performance or that creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment.

Effective Date:
June 1, 1998