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Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy

For

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
 

It is our policy to uphold a system of personnel management that ensures high standards of honesty, integrity, impartiality, and conduct. I am committed to ensure that NRCS employees, partners, and customers have a work environment that is free from sexual harassment and from retaliation for reporting such harassment. Sexual harassment is misconduct that compromises these standards and desired work place. It weakens the employment relationship, debilitates morale, and jeopardizes productivity. It may also undermine merit principles by rewarding or penalizing an employee on the basis of conduct that is not related to job performance.

Any employee who uses implicit or explicit coercive sexual behavior to control, influence, or otherwise affect the career, salary, or job of another individual is engaging in sexual harassment. Similarly, any employee who makes deliberate or repeated unsolicited verbal comments, gestures, or unwelcomed physical contact of a sexual nature that interferes with work productivity is engaging in sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment will not be tolerated. All reports of such behavior will be investigated immediately and resolved swiftly, consistently, and fairly. Any employee who sexually harasses another individual while conducting business will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including removal. Reprisal against any person alleging sexual harassment will also be taken very seriously.

All NRCS employees, partners, customers, and others performing official work or receiving assistance are required to fully adhere to this policy. Managers and supervisors should post sexual harassment policies and posters in visible places within the office to remind everyone that sexual harassment is unacceptable behavior and a violation of the law.


/s/ Joyce Swartzendruber

JOYCE A. SWARTZENDRUBER
State Conservationist

June 2005

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