Procedural
Requirements
Effective Date: January 12, 2021
Expiration Date: January 12, 2031
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NASA Procedural Requirements |
NPR 3713.3A Effective Date: January 12, 2021 Expiration Date: January 12, 2031 |
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a. The overarching goal of the Anti-Harassment Program is to provide for early intervention and prompt resolution of allegations of harassing conduct. This NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) document establishes Agency-wide procedural requirements under which NASA employees, contractors, student interns, participants in Agency conducted programs, and other onsite personnel shall report allegations of harassing conduct. NASA has an affirmative obligation to maintain a harassment-free workplace and to take prompt and effective action when allegations of harassment arise. The NPR identifies roles and responsibilities for the coordination of anti-harassment efforts at the Agency and Center levels and provides guidance and instruction to NASA supervisors and managers on receiving, coordinating, reviewing, processing, and resolving allegations of harassing conduct. It is the Agency's intent to appropriately investigate and address a wide variety of alleged behaviors. While this NPR outlines one process of investigation and resolution for behaviors that may be deemed harassing, the Agency's goal is simply to ensure that employee concerns are addressed. The deciding official will determine, in conjunction with advice from the Center Anti-Harassment Team (CAHT) (see Section 1.8), to determine which process is best suited to address any individual allegation of harassment.
b. These procedures will assist NASA in fulfilling its obligations to:
(1) Provide a harassment-free workplace.
(2) Address harassment before it becomes "severe or pervasive."
(3) Conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into allegations of harassing conduct.
(4) Provide interim relief, if necessary, to immediately address the reported conduct.
(5) Take prompt and effective corrective action when the Agency determines that harassing conduct in violation of NASA policy has occurred. Harassment may take different forms and, therefore, may require different corrective actions. Corrective action will be taken to prevent or eliminate the conduct before it rises to the level of unlawful harassment, and to ensure that it does not recur. NASA will initiate immediate and appropriate corrective action within 60 calendar days of receiving a report of harassment and finding that it was substantiated. The circumstances of each case will dictate the corrective action required.
(6) Provide a mechanism for coordinating resolution of employee complaints brought to management's attention, even if the alleged behaviors do not rise to the level of harassment pursuant to this NPR.
(7) Provide protection from retaliation. It is unlawful for an individual to be retaliated against for filing harassment allegations, witness harassing conduct, participating in the investigatory process, and any other protected activity. NASA will not tolerate any retaliation and will take prompt and effective corrective action when the Agency determines retaliation in violation of NASA policy has occurred. NASA will initiate prompt and effective corrective action within 60 calendar days of receiving a report of retaliation and finding that it was substantiated. Employees should report retaliation to a supervisor or manager, the Center Anti-Harassment Coordinator, or other appointed personnel.
c. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its Management Directive (MD)-715, which requires that model EEO programs issue policies and procedures to address harassment in the Federal workplace. In its technical assistance document, "Model EEO Programs Must Have An Effective Anti-Harassment Program," EEOC directs Federal agencies to create work environments that are free from sexual and other forms of harassment. EEOC further states that anti-harassment policy and procedures do not exist for the same purposes as the EEO complaints process. The EEO complaints process is designed to make individuals whole for discrimination that already has occurred. For example, where discrimination is found to have occurred, make-whole relief may include damage awards and equitable relief paid by the Agency, designed in part to have the effect of preventing the recurrence of the unlawful discriminatory conduct. The internal anti-harassment process, on the other hand, is intended to take immediate and appropriate corrective action, including the use of disciplinary actions, to eliminate harassment regardless of whether the conduct violated the law.
d. This directive encompasses:
(1) Conduct that is unwelcome, verbal or physical, regardless of whether it is based on an individual's race, color, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, status as a parent, genetic information, or retaliation, when: (a) the behavior can reasonably be considered to adversely affect the work environment or (b) an employment decision affecting the employee is based upon the employee's acceptance or rejection of such conduct (see definition of "harassment," Appendix A).
(2) This directive is not intended to be the exclusive avenue for individuals to raise workplace concerns or issues, for example, other avenues include the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, Ombudspersons, and the Employee Assistance Program. The CAHT will advise management on whether to use the process established under this NPR or another internal administrative process, with the deciding official making the determination as to which process to use.
(3) A non-exhaustive list of illustrative examples of behavior inconsistent with NASA's anti-harassment policy include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Threatening that rejection of sexual overtures will affect appointments, promotions, transfers, or evaluations or affect any other employment-related actions.
(b) Making sexually suggestive comments or gestures, including offensive comments, jokes, or suggestions about an employee's sex or displaying nude or sexually suggestive objects, pictures, images, or cartoons.
(c) Belittling persons based on protected characteristics identified in (1) above, including repeated jokes, teasing, mimicking, or commenting on an individual's protected characteristic;
(d) Retaliating against an employee who raises a harassment allegation.
(e) Bullying, intimidating, or threatening behavior.
(4) This policy is not intended to cover matters delegated under other authorities, for example, allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse, which should be reported to the Office of Inspector General; concerns relating to security or clearance matters, which should be reported to the Office of Protective Services; misconduct, which should be reported to the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer; or other concerns for which an existing administrative mechanism exists (e.g., such as performance appraisals). Any allegation involving bodily harm and/or a non-censual sexual act (sexual assault), completed, or attempted, or abusive sexual contact, including when the victim lacks the capacity to consent, be reported immediately to NASA OIG and/or Office of Protective Services. These law enforcement agencies would be the appropriate resource to respond, preserve, investigate, or refer any allegations of sexual assault to the appropriate local or state authority.
e. The process established under this NPR specifies management's obligation to address a claim of harassment regardless of whether the alleged harassee requests that the allegations be kept confidential or that no action be taken.
a. This directive is applicable to NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers, including Component Facilities and Technical and Service Support Centers. This language applies to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center only to the extent specified or referenced in the applicable contracts. The Office of the Inspector General has statutory independence and may create a separate anti-harassment procedure that more effectively meets its needs.
b. The applicability of this directive to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center, is being assessed by NASA. This applicability statement will be updated as necessary when that assessment is completed.This language applies to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center only to the extent specified or referenced in the applicable contracts.
c. This directive is applicable to other contractors, recipients of grants or cooperative agreements, or parties to other agreements only to the extent delineated in this directive and specified in contracts, grants or cooperative agreement, or other agreements.
d. The Office of the Inspector General has statutory independence and may create a separate anti-harassment procedure that more effectively meets its needs.
e. In this directive, all mandatory actions (i.e., requirements) are denoted by statements containing the term "shall." The terms: "may" or "can" denote discretionary privilege or permission, "should" denotes a good practice and is recommended, but is not required, "will" denotes expected outcome, and "are/is" denotes descriptive material.
f. In this directive, all document citations are assumed to be the latest version unless otherwise noted.
a. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 633a.
b. Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §§ 791, 794, and 794a.
c. Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, 38 U.S.C. § 4214.
d. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16.
e. Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000ff-2000ff-11.
f. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.
g. Further Amendment to Executive Order (E. O.) 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, E. O. 13087.
h. Further Amendment to E. O. 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in Federal Government, E. O. 13152.
i. EEOC Management Directive 715 (October 1, 2003). 1
j. NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 3713.2, Federal Equal Opportunity Programs of NASA.
a. Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a.
d. NPR 1382.1, NASA Privacy Procedural Requirements.
e. NASA Records Retention Schedules (NRRS) 1441.1, NASA Records Retention Schedules.
f. EEOC, Model EEO Programs Must Have An Effective Anti-Harassment Program (September 2005). 3
a. In order to determine if the process specified in this NPR is functioning effectively and efficiently, Center Anti-Harassment Coordinators (CAHCs) will annually evaluate the operations and success of their Center's Anti-Harassment process in consultation with the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) and cooperate with data-gathering and other evaluation activities. These will include, for example, reporting on the number and bases of allegations over time and ensuring that the fact finding and other actions taken in response to allegations are in accordance with the requirements of this directive.
b. CAHCs will maintain case files pertaining to this NPR, in accordance with NRRS 1441.1, NASA Records Retention Schedules.
NPR 3713.3, Anti-Harassment Procedures, dated October 6, 2009.
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