Section 4: Harassment Prevention and Response Policies and Procedures
4.1. HARASSMENT PREVENTION AND RESPONSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.
DoD Components will establish policies and procedures that prevent and respond to harassment of DoD civilian employees. Such policies and procedures should:
a. Distinguish between response procedures for allegations of harassment that is not unlawful but detracts from an efficient workplace, unlawful discriminatory harassment, and harassment of a criminal nature.
b. Encourage DoD civilian employees to report and DoD Components to respond to allegations of harassment.
c. Identify venues where DoD civilian employees can report harassment of any kind and provide for referral of harassment allegations to an appropriate venue for response.
d. Outline the process the DoD Component will use to resolve an allegation of harassment, to include an opportunity for alternative dispute resolution where appropriate.
e. Require a timely response.
f. Identify methods to correct harassing behavior.
g. Provide appropriate notification to individuals who allege they have been harassed on the status of the response to the harassment allegation, including, but not limited to, when the Component determines its response to be completed.
h. Identify available resources and support services to restore workplace efficiency.
i. Permit a third-party, such as a bystander or witness, to report the harassment of a DoD civilian employee, unless the report is made via the process identified in Paragraph 4.3.
j. Instruct that training and education be established in accordance with the requirements stated in Section 5.
k. Implement a process or system to collect, track, and report harassment allegations in accordance with the requirements stated in Section 6, consistent with law and DoD policy pertaining to privacy, including Section 552a of Title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.), also known and referred to in this issuance as the “Privacy Act of 1974,” as amended; DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5400.11; and DoD 5400.11-R, as applicable.
