JANUARY 1, 2015
THE POLICY STATEMENT
Christian Global Medical Healthcare Incorporated hereafter known as CGMH is committed to providing a safe environment for all its employees, volunteers, students, patients, board members, and business associates free from harassment at work including sexual harassment. CGMH operates a zero tolerance policy for any form of sexual harassment in the workplace, treats all incidents seriously and promptly investigates all allegations of sexual harassment. Any person found to have sexually harassed another will face disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal from employment.
All complaints of sexual harassment will be taken seriously and treated with respect and in confidence. No one will be victimized for making such a complaint but rather respected for their bravery.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS POLICY
CGMH will ensure that this policy is widely disseminated throughout the corporation at all sites. It will be included in the staff handbook. All new employees must be trained on the content of this policy before commencing their employment at CGMH. Every year, CGMH will require all employees to attend a refresher training course on the company’s zero tolerance for sexual harassment in the workplace once a year.
Definition of Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/or intimidated. It includes situations where a person is asked to engage in sexual activity as a condition of that person’s employment, as well as situations which create an environment which is hostile, intimidating or humiliating for the recipient
Sexual harassment can involve one or more incidents and actions constituting harassment may be physical, verbal and non-verbal. Examples of conduct or behavior which constitute sexual harassment include, but are not limited to:
PHYSICAL CONDUCT
- Unwelcome physical contact including patting, pinching, stroking, kissing, hugging, fondling, or inappropriate touching
- Physical violence, including sexual assault
- Physical contact, e.g. touching, pinching
- The use of job-related threats or rewards to solicit sexual favors
VERBAL CONDUCT
- Comments on a worker’s appearance, age, private life, etc.
- Sexual comments, stories and jokes
- Sexual advances
- Repeated and unwanted social invitations for dates or physical intimacy
- Insults based on the sex of the worker
- Condescending or paternalistic remarks and sending sexually explicit messages (by phone or by email)
NON-VERBAL CONDUCT
- Display of sexually explicit or suggestive material
- Sexually-suggestive gestures
- Whistling
- Leering and others
Anyone can be a victim of sexual harassment, regardless of their sex and of the sex of the harasser. Therefore, CGMH recognizes that sexual harassment may also occur between people of the same sex. What matters is that the sexual conduct is unwanted and unwelcome by the person against whom the conduct is directed. CGMH recognizes that sexual harassment is a manifestation of power relationships and often occurs within unequal relationships in the workplace, for example between manager or supervisor and employee. Anyone, including employees of CGMH, clients, customers, casual workers, contractors or visitors who sexually harasses another will be reprimanded in accordance with this internal policy.
All sexual harassment is prohibited whether it takes place within CGMH premises or outside, including at social events, business trips, training sessions or conferences sponsored by CGMH.
PROCEDURES FOR FILING OR REPORTING AN EXPERIENCE OR OBSERVATION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT CGMH:
If anyone experiences or sees another being sexually harassed but cannot directly approach an alleged harasser, he/she can tell their immediate supervisor or approach our HR director who is trained in handling complaints of sexual harassment with senior management to get to the root of the problem immediately. Throughout the complaint procedure, a victim is entitled to be helped by a counselor within or outside the company. CGMH will provide a list of counselors with special training to enable them to assist victims of sexual harassment. CGMH recognizes that because sexual harassment often occurs in unequal relationships within the workplace, victims often feel that they cannot come forward and CGMH understands the need to support victims in making complaints. A person who has been subject to sexual harassment or observed it can also make a complaint outside of the company. They can do so through local law enforcement and up to higher chains of authorities designated by law to handle the issue.
DISCIPLINARY MEASURES:
Anyone experiencing or suspecting a violation of this policy should without fear of reprisal report it immediately to the management or to any of the board of directors verbally or in writing and the violator (s) when found guilty after a thorough impartial investigation, will be terminated. All board members, employees, volunteers, students, and business associates shall complete training on sexual harassment and sign completion of such training before starting a relationship with CGMH.
Monitoring and evaluation
CGMH recognizes the importance of monitoring this sexual harassment policy especially in the phase of global revolution against sexual violence and will collect statistics and data to evaluate its effectiveness every six months to make changes that will strengthen enforcement of sanctions against violators in conjunction to applicable local and national prevailing laws. Therefore at CGMH, supervisors, managers and those responsible for dealing with sexual harassment cases will report on compliance with this policy, including the number of incidents, how they were dealt with, and any recommendations for improvement.
