§ 18-6Affirmative action plan/equal employment opportunity.
§ 18-7ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act.
§ 18-8Discrimination.
§ 18-9Sexual harassment.
§ 18-10Merit system.
§ 18-11Politics.
Equal employment policy and administration.
The Housing Authority of the City of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, affirms the Authority's policy to consider each applicant for employment on the basis of his/her qualifications for the job and without regard to race, disability, color, creed, sex, sexual preference, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin or any other protected status. All employees are given equal consideration in compensation, benefits and promotional opportunities without regard to race, religion, color, creed, sex, sexual preference, age, disability, national origin or any other protected status.
In implementation of this policy, the Executive Director exercises personal leadership in establishing, maintaining and carrying out the Authority's affirmative action efforts to promote equal opportunity in every aspect of employment. To assist him in carrying out these policies, the housing mangers are assigned responsibility and authority as Directors of the equal employment opportunity program for employment.
The Directors for Equal Employment Opportunity develop plans for implementing the Authority's equal employment opportunity objectives. They monitor personnel hiring patterns within the Authority's employee population and establish program goals. They will continue to appraise the Authority's personnel activities to identify deficiencies existing in equal employment opportunities. With the Board of Commissioners' approval and within merit system procedures, the Directors will take the remedial steps necessary to deal with program shortcomings.
The Directors for Equal Employment Opportunity will handle expeditiously any complaints from the Authority's employees who believe themselves to be the victims of discrimination and will make recommendations for the disposition of such complaints to the Executive Director.
The Directors for Equal Employment Opportunity will continue to ensure that the Authority's policy on equal employment opportunity is publicized internally by permanent posting on all department bulletin boards.
Recruitment.
The following procedures will continue to be carried out in the recruitment of Authority employees:
All employment advertising and recruiting activities, including contacts with employment sources, schools, colleges and training institutions, are to be directed to all qualified applicants, regardless of race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual preference, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin or any other protected status.
All employment advertising, job announcements and recruiting brochures identify the Authority as an equal opportunity employer.
Discriminatory or unnecessary restrictions on age, sex, physical characteristics and experience are deleted from all recruiting announcements, and only bona fide requirements may be specified.
Active person-to-person contact in the recruitment process is encouraged on the part of minority employees to facilitate the recruitment of minority applicants.
Job announcements are issued in readable and understandable language, particularly for those positions for which the educationally disadvantaged may be qualified.
Advertising to attract minority applicants is appropriately worded and placed in selected newspapers.
Individual letters are prepared for distribution to minority group organizations or personal contact is made with these organizations expressing interest in referral of qualified applicants whenever recruitment involves positions in which minorities are underrepresented.
Testing.
Efforts to ensure that selection devices do not discriminate against minority applicants will be continued as follows:
The need for testing will be determined by management and will be used to identify the skills and qualifications required for a particular position.
Each test is professionally developed and administered objectively with uncomplicated standard instructions.
Tests are appraised critically and developed in new forms and procedures, as needed, to assure current relevance of the instruments.
Tests are used to avoid subjective discrimination.
Oral tests are used for many entrance-level positions.
Training and experience credits are given on some tests whenever possible.
The Authority will conform to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in determining qualifications for a particular position.
Appointment and placement.
The following procedures will continue to be carried out in the appointment and placement of Authority employees:
Flexible and innovative approaches to appointments and placements are sought within the discretion permitted under the Authority's personnel policy.
All employees shall be afforded every opportunity for promotion via promotional examinations and open competitive examinations for which they are qualified.
To advance equal employment opportunities in the appointment and selection process, the following procedures will be instituted:
Appointing authorities will be required to certify that appointments were made on a nondiscriminatory basis when they submit a personnel action for appointing a new employee from the certified eligibility list. Periodic review of the meaningfulness of these statements will be made by the Directors for Equal Employment Opportunity.
Counseling will be provided to orient new employees and to determine the needs of employees relative to training, promotion and career possibilities.
Classification.
The following procedures will continue to be carried out in the classification of Authority positions:
Position descriptions are reviewed prior to the issuance of each announcement and evaluated to ensure that the requirements are job-related.
When the above procedure indicates the need, desirable education and experience requirements may be modified or reduced to ensure that any such requirements will be job-related and will not create artificial barriers for minority employment.
Efforts at job restructuring and building of career ladders will be continued/reinforced by training.
Efforts to provide upward mobility will be increased with the addition of trainee classes that are desirable and practicable.
To advance equal employment opportunities in the classified service, the following action will be taken:
A comprehensive review of all class specifications will be systematically and reasonably reviewed, evaluated and revised to eliminate artificial employment barriers and references to sex and to hopefully create positions which provide upward mobility for minorities, women, the disadvantaged, handicapped and present employees.
Staff and employee development.
Education and training which enhance equal opportunity employment will continue to be provided as follows:
Tuition assistance may be provided to enhance employees' abilities in job-related subjects within the Authority's financial capabilities.
Training may be provided to enable employees to increase their supervisory and basic management skills through learning institutions and in-service training programs.
Training is made available to employees to advance themselves in middle-management subjects through local educational institutions.
A study will be conducted on the development of a feasible program through which the full utilization of the employee's skills may be achieved. Emphasis will be placed on the identification of employees in lower classes who have not advanced in the past three years and who have experience or education superior to that required in the present assignment. Particular attention will be paid to the practicality of the means by which the full utilization of their skills may be achieved.
By means of public announcements, employees may be informed of career ladder opportunities and encouraged to seek counseling and advice on their potential for advancement.
A training needs survey may be conducted among present employees to discover training needs, not only for performance, but advancement.
Other personnel actions.
Other personnel actions which enhance equal opportunity employment will continue to be provided to employees as follows:
Employees may be encouraged to discuss individual problems with the Directors for Equal Employment Opportunity.
The Directors for Equal Employment Opportunity may advise and review performance evaluation systems in the various departments to determine their objectivity, effectiveness and fairness.
To advance equal employment opportunity in other personnel actions, the following additional steps will be taken.
Exit interviews for all terminations, except retirements, will be conducted to determine if the employee quit his/her job because of uncertainties about duties to be performed or because of fears that arose from being placed in a new or hostile environment that may be the result of the attitudes of fellow employees.
In compliance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the WHA will not deny employment or promotion opportunity to qualified applicants or employees on the basis of physical or mental disability.
It is the WHA's policy, therefore, to make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental disability of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee, unless such accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the WHA.
The nature and extent of accommodation shall be based on a case-by-case determination by the Executive Director according to the specific needs of the applicant/employee. Accommodations would include, but are not limited to, the following:
Determination of undue hardship. The following factors will be considered in determining whether an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the WHA:
All determinations of undue hardship shall be made in writing, approved by the Executive Director and maintained by the WHA.
The WHA is an equal opportunity employer and, as such, will not engage in any form of discrimination against either applicants for employment or current employees on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, religion, handicap, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other protected status. The only exception to this policy shall be where the United States government or the State of Rhode Island requires specific actions on the part of the WHA that would ordinarily be discriminatory.
All employees have the right to work in an environment free from intimidation and harassment because of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, religion, handicap, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other protected status. The WHA prohibits any physical, verbal or mental harassment. An employee who feels he/she has been discriminated against or harassed should report all such incidents to his/her supervisor, the Executive Director or a member of the Board of Commissioners for immediate investigation.
The WHA has a designated representative to coordinate compliance with all relevant federal, state and local nondiscrimination requirements. This individual will be responsible for arranging for any such investigations or inquiries.
Goals and response.
It is the goal of the WHA to promote a workplace that is free of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment of employees occurring in the workplace or in other settings in which employees may find themselves in connection with their employment is unlawful and will not be tolerated by this organization. Further, any retaliation against an individual who has complained about sexual harassment or retaliation against individuals for cooperating with an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint is similarly unlawful and will not be tolerated. To achieve our goal of providing a workplace free from sexual harassment, the conduct that is described in this policy will not be tolerated, and we have provided a procedure by which inappropriate conduct will be dealt with, if encountered by employees.
Because the WHA takes allegations of sexual harassment seriously, we will respond promptly to complaints of sexual harassment; and where it is determined that such inappropriate conduct has occurred, we will act promptly to eliminate the conduct and impose such corrective action as is necessary, including disciplinary action, where appropriate.
Please note that while this policy sets forth our goals of promoting a workplace that is free of sexual harassment, the policy is not designed or intended to limit our authority to discipline or take remedial action for workplace conduct which we deem unacceptable, regardless of whether that conduct satisfies the definition of sexual harassment.
Definition of sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment is defined under state law and the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to include any unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors, or any other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when:
Submission to such conduct or such advances or requests is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment; or
Submission to or rejection of such conduct or advances or requests by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; or
Such conduct or advances or request has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
Under these definitions, direct or implied requests by a supervisor for sexual favors in exchange for actual or promised job benefits, such as favorable reviews, salary increases, promotions, increased benefits, or continued employment, constitutes sexual harassment.
The legal definition of sexual harassment is broad; and other sexually oriented conduct, whether it is intended or not, that is unwelcome and has the effect of creating a workplace environment that is hostile, offensive, intimidating, or humiliating to male or female workers may also constitute sexual harassment.
While it is not possible to list all those additional circumstances that may constitute sexual harassment, the following are some examples of conduct which, if unwelcome, may constitute sexual harassment, depending upon the totality of the circumstances, including the severity of the conduct and its pervasiveness:
Unwelcome sexual advances, whether they involve physical touching or not;
Sexual epithets, jokes, written or oral references to sexual conduct, gossip regarding one's sex life, comment on an individual's body, comment about an individual's sexual activity, deficiencies, or prowess;
Displaying sexually suggestive objects, pictures, cartoons;
Unwelcome leering, whistling, brushing against the body, sexual gestures, suggestive or insulting comments;
Inquiries into one's sexual experiences; and
Discussion of one's sexual activities.
All employees should take special note that, as stated above, retaliation against an individual who has complained about sexual harassment and retaliation against individuals for cooperating with an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint is unlawful and will not be tolerated by this organization.
Complaints of sexual harassment.
If any of our employees believe that he or she has been subjected to sexual harassment, the employee has the right to file a complaint with our organization. This may be done in writing or orally. If you would like to file a complaint, you may do so by contacting your supervisor, the Human Resources Department, or the Executive Director. These persons are also available to discuss any concerns you may have and to provide information to you about our policy on sexual harassment and our complaint process.
Any questions regarding the policy should be brought to the attention of the Director of Administration and Personnel or the Executive Director.
Sexual harassment investigation.
When we receive the complaint, we will promptly investigate the allegation in a fair and expeditious manner. The investigation will be conducted in such a way as to maintain confidentiality to the extent practicable under the circumstances. Our investigation will include a private interview with the person filing the complaint and with witnesses. We will also interview the person alleged to have committed sexual harassment. When we have completed our investigation, we will, to the extent appropriate, inform the person filing the complaint and the person alleged to have committed the conduct of the results of that investigation.
If it is determined that inappropriate conduct has occurred, we will act promptly to eliminate the offending conduct; and where it is appropriate, we will also impose disciplinary action and take remedial action when appropriate.
Disciplinary action. If it is determined that inappropriate conduct has been committed by one of our employees, we will take such action as is appropriate under the circumstances. Such action may range from counseling to termination from employment and may include such other forms of disciplinary action as we deem appropriate under the circumstances.
State and federal discrimination enforcement agencies. In addition to the above, if you believe you have been subjected to sexual harassment, you may file a formal complaint with either or both of the government agencies set forth below. Using our complaint process does not prohibit you from filing a complaint with these agencies.
| (1) | The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") 1 Congress Street - 10th Floor Boston, MA 02114 (617) 565-3200 | |
| (2) | Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights 180 Westminster Street 3rd Floor Providence, RI 02903 (401) 222-2661 |
The employment of personnel and all actions affecting employees shall be based on merit, ability and justice.
The Hatch Act applies.
Examples of prohibited activities. Direct or indirect participation in any of the following types of political activity is in contravention of the prohibitions of the Hatch Act as construed by the Civil Service Commission:
Soliciting/handling political contributions.
Taking an active part in primary or regular elections, such as soliciting votes or helping to get out the voters on election days.
Acting as an election officer in a capacity which may involve partisanship or partisan political management.
Publishing or being connected editorially or managerially with any newspaper generally known as partisan from a political standpoint.
Writing for a publication or publishing any letter or article, signed or unsigned, in favor of or against any political party or candidate.
Becoming a candidate for nomination or election to any public office which is to be filled in an election in which party candidates are involved.
Distributing campaign literature or material during work hours and on WHA properties.
Initiating or circulating political petitions during work hours and on WHA properties.
Availability of pamphlet from Civil Service Commission. The pamphlet entitled "Political Activity of Federal Officers and Employees," commonly referred to as "Pamphlet 20," is available from the Civil Service Commission. The pamphlet contains more detailed information concerning the applicability of the Hatch Act to local agency officers and employees.
