State Governments' Sexual Harassment Policy Initiatives

Abstract

Sexual harassment is an old problem but a new issue. I As an employment issue it concerns both men and women as well as supervisors and subordinates. Also, sexual harassment results in economic losses for the organization and affected employees.2 Both the prevalence and costs of sexual harassment in the public workplace have been well documented.3 Similarly, based on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rulings4 and case law,5 other studies have attempted to provide public administrators with guidelines to address and manage the problem. In brief, most studies agree on two guidelines.6 The first step required to address the issue is to develop a clearly articulated, general policy prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. Second, in order to manage the problem, employees should be sensitized to sexual harassment through training programs and information seminars. With the exception of a few case studies7 and anecdotal evidence,8 little is known about how state governments, the single largest employer in most states,9 have responded to sexual harassment. The purpose of this research note is to provide a brief, albeit, comprehensive up-to-date analysis of state governments' sexual harassment policy initiatives.