State Senate, Gov. Kemp Make Separate Changes To Sexual Harassment Reporting

State employees will have a new, unified way to report sexual harassment in the workplace thanks to an executive order signed Monday by Governor Brian Kemp.

Earlier that day, state senators changed their rules to limit the window of time someone could accuse a senator or Senate staffer of sexual harassment as well.

The governor’s order calls for a uniform sexual harassment prevention policy that applies to the executive branch of state government, mandatory training for state employees and requires all complaints to be centrally reviewed by the state Office of the Inspector General instead of within the individual agencies.

Each executive branch agency must also designate at least one male and one female representative to investigate any complaints of harassment and report the complaint to the inspector general’s office.

Meanwhile in the senate, anyone who accuses a senator or staff member of harassment must now bring their allegations forward within two years of the alleged incident instead of an indefinite window.

The internal rules change also says anyone who files a complaint and makes the complaint public could have the case dismissed and be sanctioned.