Sexual Harassment: Inconsistent and Incomplete Policies and Information Hinder VA's Efforts to Protect Employees
Fast Facts
A federal survey estimates that 22% of Veterans Affairs employees experienced workplace sexual harassment in 2014-2016. VA has policies to prevent and address harassment, but some are inconsistent and incomplete.
For example, the person who oversees personnel functions (e.g., hiring, promotions) is the same person who oversees the complaint process. This can create a conflict of interest.
In addition, VA doesn’t centrally collect information on all complaints—making it harder to direct its resources for preventing and addressing sexual harassment where they’re needed most.
Our 7 recommendations address these and other issues we found.
Department of Veterans Affairs
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has policies to prevent and address sexual harassment in the workplace, but some aspects of the policies and of the complaint processes may hinder those efforts.
Misalignment of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Director position: VA's EEO Director oversees both the EEO complaint process, which includes addressing sexual harassment complaints, and general personnel functions. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), this dual role does not adhere to one of its key directives and creates a potential conflict of interest when handling EEO issues because the EEO process often scrutinizes and challenges the impacts of personnel decisions.
Incomplete or outdated policies and information: VA has an overarching policy that outlines its efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment of its employees. However, some additional policies and information documents at the agency and administration levels are not consistent with VA's overarching policy, and are outdated or are missing information. For example, they may not include all options employees have for reporting sexual harassment, which could result in confusion among employees and managers.
Delayed finalization of Harassment Prevention Program (HPP): VA has not formally approved the directive or the implementing guidance for the 4-year-old HPP, which is intended to prevent harassment and address it before it becomes unlawful; lack of formal approval could limit the program's effectiveness.
VA uses complaint data to understand the extent of sexual harassment and target resources to prevent and address it. However, such data are incomplete. For example, VA compiles information on allegations made through the EEO process and HPP (e.g., 180 sexual harassment cases were filed through the EEO process and HPP in fiscal year 2019), but does not require managers who receive complaints to report them to VA centrally. As a result, VA is not aware of all sexual harassment allegations across the agency. Without these data, VA may miss opportunities to better target its resources and to prevent and address sexual harassment.
VA provides training to its employees, but the required training does not have in-depth information on identifying and addressing sexual harassment. These trainings have one or no sexual harassment scenarios to help employees understand prohibited behaviors and do not mention HPP. Some facilities within VA's administrations—which include the Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration, and National Cemetery Administration—supplement the training, but providing additional information is not mandatory. Requiring broader training material, such as with more examples of sexual harassment and information on HPP, could improve VA employees' knowledge of the agency's sexual harassment policies and could help to prevent sexual harassment or ensure that it is properly handled when it does occur.
Why GAO Did This Study
According to estimates from a recent federal survey, 18 to 27 percent of VA employees experienced some form of sexual harassment at work from mid-2014 through mid-2016. Sexual harassment negatively affects employees and employers and, if severe or pervasive, can constitute unlawful employment discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
GAO was asked to review VA's efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment of its employees. This report examines (1) the extent to which VA has policies to prevent and address sexual harassment, (2) how available data inform VA about sexual harassment, and (3) the extent to which VA provides training to employees on preventing and addressing sexual harassment. GAO reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, and policy and program documents; analyzed VA complaint data for fiscal years 2014 through 2019 and data from a 2016 federal survey; and interviewed VA officials at headquarters and select facilities across VA, two union officials, and EEOC officials.
Recommendations
GAO is making seven recommendations, including that VA ensure that its EEO Director position is not responsible for personnel functions; require managers to report sexual harassment centrally; and require additional employee training. VA concurred with all but the EEO Director position recommendation, which GAO continues to believe is warranted.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs |
Priority Rec.
VA's Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness should realign VA's EEO Director position to adhere to the applicable EEOC directive by ensuring the position is not responsible for personnel functions. (Recommendation 1) |
In September 2020, VA met with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to discuss, among other things, alignment of VA's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Director position. During the time of our review in 2020, the EEO Director was in the Office of Resolution Management, Diversity & Inclusion (ORMDI), which was under the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness - an office that has responsibility for a range of personal functions. In July 2022, VA said it had no plans for realignment and it believed the integrity of its EEO process was maintained. However, in December 2022, legislation was enacted that included a provision for the Secretary of VA to ensure that the official who serves as the department's EEO Director does not also serve in a position that has responsibility over personnel functions of the department within 90 days of enactment. VA implemented this realignment, effective October 6, 2024, which will help keep personnel functions separate form EEO functions.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs |
Priority Rec.
VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management should complete VA's EEO Program Manager realignment initiative at VBA and VHA in accordance with VA policy. (Recommendation 2) |
VA agreed with our recommendation. In January 2023, VA said VBA had realigned most of its EEO Program Managers and proposed plans to complete the remaining realignment. VA stated that it planned to realign VHA EEO Program Managers in fiscal year 2024, pending passage of legislation to fund such realignment. However, VA has not provided documentation of its realignment plans. In December of 2022, legislation was enacted that included a provision that within one year of enactment, the Secretary of VA shall ensure that each EEO Program Manager at the facility level reports to the Director of the Office of Resolution Management, or such successor office established. In April 2024, VA stated that the VHA EEO Program Manager realignment would be completed in fiscal year 2024. To implement our recommendation, VA needs to complete the EEO Program Manager realignment at VBA and VHA to help ensure there is not potential conflict of interest.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management should ensure that ORM reviews all existing VA and administration policies and information documents to make sure they are current, complete, and aligned with VA's sexual harassment policy. (Recommendation 3) |
VA agreed with our recommendation. ORMDI (formerly ORM) created a supplemental policy review checklist to be used by staff from VA's three administrations and staff offices to review and verify that supplemental policies align with VA's sexual harassment policy, are current and complete. An initial review of policies was completed in October 2022, according to ORMDI. Based on these reviews, VA found and took action to correct several policies that had incomplete and incorrect information. ORMDI plans to use the policy review checklist and other review efforts to conduct ongoing assessments of information.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | VA's Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness, in consultation with ORM, should finalize the HPP directive and handbook to formalize HPP. (Recommendation 4) |
VA finalized the Harassment Prevention Program Directive in December 2020. In March 2022, VA finalized the Harassment Prevention Program Handbook, which provides guidance, instructions and mandatory procedures for VA organizations and key stakeholders at every level of the organization on processing allegations of harassment and sexual harassment within VA. By implementing this recommendation, VA employees should have a better understanding of the process for addressing sexual harassment complaints and more consistent implementation of the agency's Harassment Prevention Program.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | VA's Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness, in consultation with ORM, should require managers to report all sexual harassment complaints they receive to ORM and ORM should use this information—and other available data about sexual harassment prevalence at VA—to assess and improve its efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment. (Recommendation 5) |
VA agreed with our recommendation. VA updated its harassment reporting policy to require managers to report allegations of sexual harassment to its Harassment Prevention Program (HPP) and created a tracking system for such reporting. VA assesses this information to identify areas for improvement. For example, officials stated they the department uses information collected through the tracking system to assess the effectiveness of the agency's anti-harassment programs and sexual harassment training, policies, and initiatives. VA also conducted an anonymous survey of its employees on sexual harassment. VA analyzed the information collected and identified areas for improvement. Moving forward, it will be important that VA continue to analyze available data to make ongoing improvements to prevent and address sexual harassment.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management should develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that, for sexual harassment complaints addressed through the management process, any corrective actions decided on are implemented, including requiring managers and supervisors to provide evidence to ORM that these actions occurred. (Recommendation 6) |
VA agreed with our recommendation. VA updated its Harassment Prevention Program (HPP) handbook in 2022 to outline that HPP staff should ensure that imposition of corrective action is prompt, consistent, and proportionate to the severity of harassment. In March 2023, VA released a notice which states that cases of any type relating to or involving potential violation of VA's harassment prevention policy must be identified in the department's ALERT-HR system using the "Workplace or Sexual Harassment" check box and then marked as to whether the case has been reported to the HPP Office. According to VA officials, the Office of Resolution Management, Diversity & Inclusion (ORMDI) staff verify that managers have indicated in the system that corrective action has been completed. However, VA does not require that all corrective actions are captured, and the process as described by VA officials does not specify how ORMDI staff verify actions entered into the system actually occurred.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management should require additional training for all VA employees on identifying and addressing sexual harassment, including the HPP process. For instance, VA could make training that is currently offered in some facilities mandatory for all employees (e.g., Prevention of Sexual Harassment) or develop new mandatory training. (Recommendation 7) |
VA developed new required training courses for both employees and managers. VA stated that the new trainings replaced those in place at the time of our 2020 review. The new training includes more in-depth information and scenarios on identifying and addressing sexual harassment, as well as information on the Harassment Prevention Program (HPP) process. By implementing this recommendation, VA employees will be better informed on sexual harassment behaviors and their avenues for addressing such behaviors.
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