Report 2017-116 Recommendation 16 Responses

Report 2017-116: Community Child Care Council of Santa Clara County: Because It Disadvantaged Some Families and Misused State Funds, It Could Benefit From Increased Monitoring by the California Department of Education (Release Date: April 2018)

Recommendation #16 To: Community Child Care Council of Santa Clara County

To ensure compliance with legal requirements and to promote a safe and responsible workplace, 4Cs should, by October 2018, create an anti-retaliation policy that specifically follows federal guidance on such policies. Additionally, 4Cs should update its policy manual and include federally recommended elements in its policy addressing unlawful harassment.

6-Month Agency Response

The agency updated its Anti Retaliation and Unlawful Harassment policies to include the recommendations made by the California State Auditor. The Anti Retaliation policy includes: (1) Examples of Retaliation; (2) Proactive Steps for Avoiding Actual and Perceived Retaliation; and (3) Guidance on Interactions Between Managers and Employees. The agency's Unlawful Harassment policy includes the statement "The Company will immediately undertake an effective, thorough and impartial investigation of the allegation." Both policies were approved by the agency's Board of Directors on 7/19/2018. Supporting documentation: "Unlawful Harassment Policy" and "Anti Retaliation Policy".

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

60-Day Agency Response

The agency has created separate Unlawful Harassment and Anti-Retaliation policies. Anti-Retaliation policy includes statement that retaliation is in violation of the policy; provides examples of prohibited conduct and that actions will be taken against those who violates the policy. The Unlawful Harassment policy also includes language around bullying and that employees in violation of this policy may be subject to discipline.

The agency also updated the Unlawful Harassment policy to include descriptions of discrimination and consensual relationships as well as expanded on the descriptions of harassment and sexual harassment.

In this policy, the complaint process was also expanded to include a more detailed description of the complaint reporting system and change the number of reporting officials from 2 individuals in management to 5.

The new policy also includes a new section on confidentiality that informs employees that the agency will keep confidential to the best degree possible: information received, the privacy of the individuals involved, and the wishes of the complaining party, documents or notes received or written by the investigator.

Lastly, the agency also added new language stating that the agency's employee assistance program (EAP) is available for employees seeking confidential counseling services.

The two policies above, Anti-Retaliation and Unlawful Harassment were both approved by the Board of Directors on 5/30/2018. HR also reviewed the EEOC Anti-Harassment Policy to ensure that the language used in the policy followed federally recommended elements. (Supporting documentation submitted: "Unlawful Harassment Policy", "Anti Retaliation Policy", "EEOC Checklist for Employers."

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented

Although 4Cs created a separate anti-retaliation policy, the policy does not include the elements of federal guidance that we specify in our report, including examples of retaliation, proactive steps for avoiding actual and perceived retaliation, and guidance on interactions between managers and employees. In addition, 4Cs' updated anti-harassment policy now includes multiple avenues of reporting and a discussion of confidentiality, but does not include any references to conducting the investigation in an impartial manner. We look forward to 4Cs informing us of additional updates to its policies in its six-month response.

All Recommendations in 2017-116

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.