Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen B.DeCroce, Schepisi, Vainieri Huttle, Murphy and Downey
SYNOPSIS
Requires Civil Service Commission to establish and maintain hotline for State employees to submit reports of workplace discrimination and harassment.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning a Civil Service Commission hotline for State employees to submit reports of workplace discrimination and harassment and supplementing Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Within 60 days of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. )(pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Civil Service Commission shall establish a toll-free telephone hotline available, at a minimum, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. through which an employee of any State agency may report confidentially a suspected incident of discrimination or harassment in the workplace. The hotline shall receive such reports and shall respond to each report with general or individualized information regarding the laws, regulations, policies, and procedures relevant to incidents of discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Upon the request of an employee who calls the hotline, the hotline shall provide the employee with appropriate referrals for further assistance and counseling.
To ensure the integrity of the telephone hotline and to encourage employees to utilize it, the commission shall provide for the confidentiality of the names of the employees calling, the information discussed with each employee, and any referrals made for further assistance or counseling. A report may be submitted by an employee anonymously.
The commission shall take appropriate steps to publicize the hotline.
The persons staffing the hotline shall be trained by the Civil Service Commission. To the greatest extent possible, the persons staffing the hotline shall have experience or education on the laws, regulations, policies, and procedures regarding discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The persons staffing the hotline shall be trained to make referrals for further assistance and counseling.
The commission shall take such actions as are necessary to consolidate the telephone hotline required by this section with an existing State telephone hotline service if deemed by the commission to be an efficient and effective use of resources.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Civil Service Commission to establish a telephone hotline available, at a minimum, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. through which an employee of a State agency may report confidentially a suspected incident of discrimination or harassment in the workplace. The hotline will receive such reports and respond to each report with general or individualized information regarding the laws, regulations, policies, and procedures relevant to incidents of discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Upon the request of an employee who calls the hotline, the hotline must provide the employee with appropriate referrals for further assistance and counseling.
To ensure the integrity of the telephone hotline and to encourage employees to utilize it, the commission must provide for the confidentiality of the names of the employees calling, the information discussed with each employee, and any referrals made for further assistance or counseling. A report may be submitted anonymously.
The commission must take appropriate steps to publicize the hotline.
To the greatest extent possible, the persons staffing the hotline must have experience or education on the laws, regulations, policies, and procedures regarding discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The persons staffing the hotline must be trained to provide referrals for further assistance and counseling.
The commission must take such actions as are necessary to consolidate the telephone hotline required by this bill with an existing State telephone hotline service if deemed to be an efficient and effective use of resources.