Harassment Training For State Workers, Holcomb Signs Bill For Lawmakers

All employees of Indiana’s executive and judicial branches will be required to take workplace harassment training under new policies announced Thursday.

The announcements came at the signing of legislation that mandates sexual harassment training for state lawmakers.

Before now, state agency heads underwent harassment training when they were hired. Gov. Eric Holcomb says new policy will ensure all state employees go through such training every year.

“I’m not aware of any issues that we have at this moment, but I want to make sure that it doesn’t slip away from us and the attention drifts,” Holcomb says.

Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush says the same will apply to employees of the state court system. And she says the training goes beyond just sexual harassment.

“But looking at civility. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission talked about the lack of civility in a workplace breeds an environment where sexual harassment can happen,” Rush says.

The bill Holcomb signed ensures state lawmakers undergo sexual harassment training each year. The measure also requires the legislature to create a policy for reporting harassment incidents.