PICKENS – At a special called meeting Monday night, Pickens City Council made it clear that no form of harassment or discrimination from its employees will be tolerated.
Clarification of the language that is currently utilized in the employee handbooks concerning harassment and discrimination policies will reflect a standard of zero tolerance for any employees that violate these guidelines.
The handbook has previously read: “The city does not tolerate harassment of any kind and forbids retaliation against anyone who reports harassment in good faith.”
City Council’s vote on Monday night will change the language in the employee handbook. The updated version will read as follows: “With the change, that policy is update to read: “The city has a zero tolerance policy with regard to any employee who engages in any type of harassment or discrimination. Any employee found by the city to have harassed another employee is subject to appropriate disciplinary action, ranging from placement of a written warning in his or her personnel file up to and including termination.”
Pickens City Administrator Katherine Brackett told council that a zero tolerance policy sets up the expectation that any employee found participating in any form of discrimination or harassment will be fired.
Because there are often so many factors, it can be difficult to clearly define harassment or discrimination. However, Brackett added that the new language makes it absolutely clear that discrimination and harassment of any kind will not be tolerated by the city of Pickens.