The Division of Personnel and the Department of Justice developed the new policy in consultation with Gov. Lynch's office. The existing policy has been in place since 1992.

"As an employer, the State of New Hampshire has a duty to keep its workplaces safe, professional, respectful, and free of all forms of harassment and discrimination. The revised policy will give us a valuable tool to use in achieving those goals," Gov. Lynch said.

"This new policy will allow us to address misconduct before it rises to the level of sexual harassment, creating a better work environment for all our employees and allowing all state employees to better serve New Hampshire citizens," Gov. Lynch said.

Under the prior policy, supervisors could only take formal action in response to sexual harassment violation if there was evidence of a quid pro quo or proof that the offensive behavior was severe and pervasive, which could allow problems to escalate before action could be taken. The new policy makes clear that offensive and inappropriate conduct is a violation of state policy and can be formally addressed as soon as inappropriate conduct takes place.

The new policy clarifies investigative procedures to ensure that these sensitive investigations are run efficiently, fairly and independently. It also emphasizes the confidentiality of the complaint process.

"The revised policy represents the combined efforts of statewide Human Resources Administrators, senior staff of the Attorney General's Office and key personnel of the Governor's Office, among others," said Karen Levchuk, director of personnel. "Its adoption represents a continuing commitment by the Executive Branch of State Government to respect and protect its employees. For every employee who has ever been the victim of sexual harassment, and every supervisor who has had to address issues of sexual harassment in the workplace, the adoption of this policy is good news indeed."

Executive Order 2006-9