25 NCAC 01J .1101. UNLAWFUL WORKPLACE HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION

(a)  Purpose.  The purpose of this Rule is to establish that the State of North Carolina prohibits in any form unlawful workplace harassment or retaliation based on opposition to unlawful workplace harassment of state employees or applicants and to require that every agency and university with employees subject to the State Human Resources Act establish policies and programs to ensure that work sites are free of unlawful workplace harassment and retaliation.

(b)  As used in this Rule:

(1)           "unlawful workplace harassment" means unsolicited and unwelcome speech or conduct based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, age, color, disability, or genetic information that creates a hostile work environment or under circumstances involving quid pro quo.

(2)           "hostile work environment" means an environment that both a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive and one that the particular person who is the object of the harassment perceives to be hostile or abusive.  Whether a hostile work environment exists is determined by looking at all of the circumstances, including the frequency of the allegedly harassing conduct, its severity, whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee's work performance.

(3)           "quid pro quo" harassment means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct when:

(A)          submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment; or

(B)          submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual.

(4)           "retaliation" means adverse action taken because of opposition to unlawful workplace harassment.

(c)  Policy.  No state employee shall engage in conduct that falls under the definition of unlawful workplace harassment or retaliation, and no personnel employment decisions shall be made on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, age, color, disability, or genetic information.

(d)  All employees are guaranteed the right to work in an environment free from unlawful workplace harassment and retaliation.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 126-4; 126-16; 126-17; 126-34.01; 126-34.02; 126-36; 126-36.1;

Eff. December 1, 1980;

Amended Eff. November 1, 1988; April 1, 1983;

Temporary Amendment Eff. February 18, 1999;

Amended Eff. July 18, 2002;

Recodified from 25 NCAC 01C .0214 Eff. December 29, 2003;

Amended Eff. June 1, 2012;

Temporary Amendment Eff. May 23, 2014.