63721945.pdf

\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nSEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE NUMBER: G - 25 GENERAL ORDER RESCINDS: SUBJECT: Employee Harassment Policy EFFECTIVE: November 14, 1994 REVISED: March 4, 2025 Table of Contents: I. Purpose II. Scope III. General IV. Committing/Condoning Harassment V. Examples of What is Not Harassment VI. Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) VII. Procedure for Initial Reporting of Harassment VIII. Informal Review and Resolution Procedure IX. Formal Review and Resolution Procedure X. Complainant’s Right to Seek Outside Remedies I. PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to create a quality work environment for all employees of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. A quality work environment is one in which employees can perform their duty free from intimidation, humiliation, insult, and without becoming subject to offensive physical or verbal abuse or actions of a sexual, ethnic, racial, religious nature or any other basis set forth in this policy. This policy is adopted as a foundation document for the purpose of eliminating all forms of harassment and applies to reports of harassment from co-workers as well as vendors. This policy is not intended to define or address harassment under legal standards. It is an agency standard requirement. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office is committed to equal employment opportunities free of harassment to all its employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy-related condition, marital status, gender identity, gender status or any other characteristic or basis protected by law. The policy is intended to prevent harassing conduct in the workplace and to correct any and all harassing conduct that may occur. All complaints will be reviewed promptly, thoroughly and impartially. The complaint will be kept confidential during the review process to the extent possible but the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to disclose information as is reasonably necessary to conduct a thorough review and take corrective action. Retaliation against an employee for reporting or participating in any review process is strictly prohibited. II. SCOPE: Harassment as prohibited by this policy is an offense against the Seminole County Sheriff's Office and any specific employee or group of employees. Offenses refer to physical, verbal, or non-verbal acts that have the purpose or effect of creating an offensive or an intimidating work environment or involve race, color, creed, GENERAL ORDER Employee Harassment Policy GO # 25 PAGE 1 OF 7\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nreligion, sex, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy-related condition, marital status, gender identity, gender status or any other characteristic or basis protected by law. They may be characterized by jokes, comments, insults, cartoons, innuendoes, or personal conduct or mannerisms that are offensive or can be construed as offensive or intimidating by a reasonable and prudent person. This policy applies to all persons involved in the operation of the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and prohibits harassment by any employee of the Sheriff’s Office as well as by others including outside vendors, customers, consultants as it relates to the Sheriff’s Office workplace. Any employee who engages in sexual or other forms of harassment or retaliation, and any supervisor who knowingly permits such conduct to occur, will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action for misconduct, up to and including termination of employment. It is the responsibility of each employee who believes he or she has been subjected to harassment in the workplace, whether by a co-worker or non-employee (which includes but is not limited to someone not directly employed by or connected with the Sheriff’s Office (e.g., an outside vendor, customer, consultant) to utilize the procedures in this policy to report and correct harassment. All supervisors are responsible for creating an atmosphere free of harassment, sexual or otherwise. Any supervisor who receives a complaint of harassment under this policy must follow the complaint procedure outlined within this policy so that the Sheriff’s Office can review the matter and try to resolve the complaint and take correct action. Individuals engaging in harassment or retaliation, as well as supervisors who fail to report violations of this policy, or knowingly allow prohibited conduct to continue, will be subject to discipline up to and including termination. III. GENERAL: A. An employee who believes that he or she has been harassed may, but is not required to, tell the perpetrator that his or her conduct is unwelcome and to request that it be discontinued. If the inappropriate conduct does not cease, or if the employee is unable, unwilling or uncomfortable addressing the alleged perpetrator directly, or if the employee simply prefers not to do so, the employee should pursue the matter through the below complaint procedure. It is important to report all concerns as soon as possible. The Sheriff’s Office must be made aware of the situation so that a review can be conducted and, where appropriate, action taken to remediate or prevent the conduct from continuing. In all instances, the complaint should be brought forward as soon as possible following the incident. B. It is the goal of the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office to prevent such harassing conduct and behavior from occurring. Should such behavior occur, it shall be dealt with in a fair, impartial, and expeditious manner. All complaints, regardless of their nature or origin, will be reviewed. Every complaint will be treated with the highest degree of confidentiality; and every employee who has knowledge or is suspected by management to have knowledge will be expected to cooperate with any inquiry. Should an employee fail or refuse to cooperate in such an inquiry, they may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination for insubordination. C. All complaints or incidents of alleged harassment will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. In those instances where a violation has been shown to occur, immediate action will be taken to remedy the situation and to prevent reoccurrences. All persons who violate this policy are subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. If criminal charges of assault and/or battery or constructive or coercive sexual battery are involved, the offender(s) will be subject to criminal prosecution and termination from employment. D. Supervisors are charged with the responsibility to prevent harassment from occurring. Should any formal administrative investigation reveal that a supervisor knew, or should have known, harassment was occurring, or that an allegation of harassment was made and he/she failed to recognize it or failed to initiate proper procedures, that supervisor may be subjected to disciplinary action up to and including termination. E. It is each employee's responsibility to help eliminate all forms of harassment by controlling their own conduct and behavior and also reporting occurrences or actions of harassment. GENERAL ORDER Employee Harassment Policy GO # 25 PAGE 2 OF 7\n\n--- Page 3 ---\n\nF. To report an incident an employee may go directly to any supervisor, preferably their own supervisor or to their Departmental Chief, Director of the Human Resources Division or to the Chief of the Department of Administrative Services. If the employee chooses to report the incident to a supervisor, that supervisor, upon being notified, will report the incident to the Departmental Chief which supervises the employees and to the Director of the Human Resources Division in order to initiate a review . G. Retaliation against any employee for reporting harassment or cooperating in any inquiry will not be tolerated. H. Employees are encouraged to report incidents immediately, preferably within five calendar days of occurrence. IV. COMMITTING OR CONDONING SEXU