33 U.S.C. § 894 — Actions to address sexual harassment at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

submitted 10 years ago by Pub. L. 114-328 to r/title-33-NAVIGATION-AND-NAVIGABLE-WATERS · 491 words · no verdicts yet

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The Commerce Secretary must create an NOAA sexual-harassment policy within one year, covering prevention, reporting, confidentiality, retaliation, public availability, designated staff, and quarterly reports.

(a) Within one year after December 23, 2016, the Secretary, through the Under Secretary, must develop a policy preventing and responding to sexual harassment involving NOAA employees, commissioned officers, and people working with or doing business for NOAA. (b) The policy must include awareness, clear reporting procedures and confidential and after-hours options, help for people in remote camps, at sea, or in the field, other contacts, confidential questions and answers, restricted or unrestricted reporting, and a ban on retaliation with consequences. (c) The Secretary may consult or receive help from appropriate organizations and experts. (d) The policy must be available to all covered employees and officers, including field workers, and to the public. (e) The Secretary must designate at least one existing employee handling equal-employment or harassment matters at each NOAA marine and aviation center. (f) At least four times a year, the Civil Rights Office Director must report to the Under Secretary: the number of actionable and non-actionable cases; the number and age of open actionable cases; trends or regional issues found; and recommendations.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Required policy

Not later than 1 year after December 23, 2016, the Secretary of Commerce shall, acting through the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, develop a policy on the prevention of and response to sexual harassment involving employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, members of the commissioned officer corps of the Administration, and individuals who work with or conduct business on behalf of the Administration.

(b) Matters to be specified in policy

The policy developed under subsection (a) shall include—

(1)

establishment of a program to promote awareness of the incidence of sexual harassment;

(2)

clear procedures an individual should follow in the case of an occurrence of sexual harassment, including—

(A)

a specification of the person or persons to whom an alleged occurrence of sexual harassment should be reported by an individual and options for confidential reporting, including—

(i)

options and contact information for after-hours contact; and

(ii)

a procedure for obtaining assistance and reporting sexual harassment while working in a remote scientific field camp, at sea, or in another field status; and

(B)

a specification of any other person whom the victim should contact;

(3)

establishment of a mechanism by which—

(A)

questions regarding sexual harassment can be confidentially asked and confidentially answered; and

(B)

incidents of sexual harassment can be reported on a restricted or unrestricted basis; and

(4)

a prohibition on retaliation and consequences for retaliatory actions.

In developing the policy required by subsection (a), the Secretary may consult or receive assistance from such State, local, and national organizations and subject matter experts as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(d) Availability of policy

The Secretary shall ensure that the policy developed under subsection (a) is available to—

(1)

all employees of the Administration and members of the commissioned officer corps of the Administration, including those employees and members who conduct field work for the Administration; and

(2)

the public.

(e) Geographic distribution of equal employment opportunity personnel

The Secretary shall designate out of existing staff at least 1 employee of the Administration who is tasked with handling matters relating to equal employment opportunity or sexual harassment at each marine and aviation center of the Administration.

(f) Quarterly reports

(1) In general

Not less frequently than 4 times each year, the Director of the Civil Rights Office of the Administration shall submit to the Under Secretary a report on sexual harassment in the Administration.

(2) Contents

Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A)

The number of sexual harassment cases, both actionable and non-actionable, involving individuals covered by the policy developed under subsection (a).

(B)

The number of open actionable sexual harassment cases and how long the cases have been open.

(C)

Such trends or region-specific issues as the Director may have discovered with respect to sexual harassment in the Administration.

(D)

Such recommendations as the Director may have with respect to sexual harassment in the Administration.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 114–328, div. C, title XXXV, § 3541, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2800; Pub. L. 116–259, title V, § 504(a)(1), Dec. 23, 2020, 134 Stat. 1180.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2016Enacted · Pub. L. 114-328 · 130 Stat. 2800
2020Amended · Pub. L. 116-259 · 134 Stat. 1180

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 114-328 on 2016-12-23.

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