[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1859 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1859

To require employers to post, and to provide to employees individually, 
 information relating to sexual harassment that violates title VII of 
         the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 15, 1995

   Mr. Miller of California introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require employers to post, and to provide to employees individually, 
 information relating to sexual harassment that violates title VII of 
         the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and for other purposes.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Sexual Harassment Prevention Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Sexual harassment in employment persists widely in the 
        workplace, although it violates title VII of the Civil Rights 
        Act of 1964 and adversely affects employees.
            (2) According to guidelines issued by the Equal Employment 
        Opportunity Commission in 1980, the most effective tool for 
        eliminating sexual harassment is prevention.
            (3) The United States Merit Systems Protection Board found 
        in 1981 and 1988 surveys of Federal Government employees that 
        42 percent of female employees and 14 percent of male employees 
        questioned had experienced some kind of harassment in 
        employment. The American Psychological Association estimates 
        that at least \1/2\ of all working women have been sexually 
        harassed at the workplace during their careers.
            (4) The vast majority of sexual harassment episodes go 
        unreported to a supervisory employee or other individual 
        designated by the employer. Only 5 percent of the Federal 
        Government employees who indicated in the 1988 Merit Systems 
        Protection Board survey that they had been harassed filed a 
        formal complaint or requested an investigation of the 
        harassment.
            (5) Sexual harassment has a significant cost for employees 
        and employers. A 1988 study by Working Woman Magazine shows 
        that sexual harassment costs a typical ``Fortune 500'' private 
        employer $6,000,000, or $292.53 per employee, each year. The 
        same study estimates that it is 34 times more expensive for 
        such an employer to ignore the problem than it is to establish 
        effective programs and policies to address the problem.
            (6) Most job growth over the next decade is expected to 
        occur in employment by small employers. Sixty-six percent of 
        the individuals who will enter the work force during this 
        period are expected to be female. The establishment of programs 
        and policies in small-business environments, at a low cost to 
        employers, will be a key prevention priority to reduce sexual 
        harassment in employment.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to establish workplace requirements that will reduce 
        the incidence of sexual harassment in employment,
            (2) to provide a low-cost system to assist employers to 
        establish programs and policies to prevent sexual harassment in 
        employment,
            (3) to raise the awareness of employees of the definition 
        of sexual harassment and of available avenues of redress, and
            (4) to increase the authority and capacity of the Equal 
        Employment Opportunity Commission to assist in preventing 
        sexual harassment in employment.

SEC. 3. EMPLOYER REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Posting of Notice in the Workplace.--Each employer shall post 
and keep posted in conspicuous places upon its premises where notices 
to employees and applicants for employment are customarily posted, a 
notice that shall be prepared or approved by the Commission and shall 
set forth--
            (1) the definition of sexual harassment found in section 
        1604.11(a) of title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations (July 
        1, 1992),
            (2) the fact that sexual harassment in employment is a 
        violation of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
            (3) information describing how to file a claim alleging 
        such harassment, including information on the time periods 
        within which an alleged victim of discrimination (including 
        sexual harassment) must file a claim in order to satisfy the 
        applicable statute of limitations applicable to such claim,
            (4) an address, and the toll-free telephone number, to be 
        used to contact the Commission regarding such harassment or 
        compliance with the requirements of this Act, and
            (5) such other information as the Commission may require.
    (b) Separate Notice to Individual Employees.--Each employer shall 
provide annually to each employee separately a written notice that 
includes--
            (1) the matters specified in paragraphs (1) through (4) of 
        subsection (a),
            (2) a description of the procedures established by such 
        employer to resolve allegations of sexual harassment in 
        employment, and
            (3) such other information as the Commission may require.
Such notice shall be provided in a manner that ensures that such 
employee actually receives such notice.
    (c) Management Information for Supervisory Employees.--Not later 
than 60 days after an employer places an individual in a supervisory 
employment position or 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, whichever occurs later, such employer shall provide to the 
supervisory employee information specifying the responsibilities of, 
and the methods to be used by, such employee to ensure that immediate 
and corrective action is taken to address allegations of sexual 
harassment in employment.
    (d) Civil Penalty.--A willful violation of this section shall be 
punishable by a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for each separate 
violation.

SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) Technical Assistance Materials.--Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall prepare, 
revise from time to time as needed, and make available to employers at 
no cost (by publication in the Federal Register or other means)--
            (1) a model notice of the kind required by section 3(a) to 
        be posted,
            (2) a model notice of the kind required by section 3(b) to 
        be provided to employees, and
            (3) voluntary guidelines for the establishment of policies 
        and procedures by employers to address allegations of 
        discrimination (including sexual harassment) in employment.
    (b) Toll-Free Telephone Number.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall provide a toll-
free telephone number for use by employees and employers in the United 
States to obtain--
            (1) information regarding compliance with this Act, and
            (2) the model notices and guidelines prepared under 
        subsection (a).

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.

    Section 3 shall be enforced--
            (1) by the Commission with respect to violations alleged by 
        employees as defined in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of 
        section 6(2), and
            (2) the Board of the Office of Compliance with respect to 
        violations alleged by employees as defined in subparagraph (D) 
        of section 6(2).

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``Commission'' means the Equal Employment 
        Opportunity Commission,
            (2) the term ``employee'' means--
                    (A) an employee as defined in section 701(f) of the 
                Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e(f)),
                    (B) an employee referred to in section 717(a) of 
                such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e-16(a)),
                    (C) an individual with respect to whom section 
                302(a)(1) of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 
                (2 U.S.C. 1202(a)(1)) applies, or
                    (D) a covered employee as defined in section 101 of 
                the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (Public 
                Law 104-1; 109 Stat. 3),
            (3) the term ``employer'' means--
                    (A) an employer as defined in section 701(b) of the 
                Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e(b)),
                    (B) a Federal entity to which section 717(a) of the 
                Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-716(a)) 
                applies,
                    (C) an employing authority to which section 
                302(a)(1) of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 
                (2 U.S.C. 1202(a)(1)) applies, or
                    (D) an employing authority to which section 201(a) 
                of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (Public 
                Law 104-1; 109 Stat. 3) applies, and
            (4) the term ``sexual harassment'' has the same meaning as 
        such term has for purposes of title VII of the Civil Rights Act 
        of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2000e-17).

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES.

    (a) General Effective Date.--Except as provided in subsection (b), 
this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Effective Date of Section 3.--Section 3 shall take effect 1 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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