Content created by Assistant Secretary for Administration (ASA)
September 2024 update
It is the Department of Health and Human Services’ (“Department” or “HHS”) policy to create and maintain a workplace that is free of discrimination, reprisal, and harassment, and that embodies the core values of respect, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (“DEIA”) in our day-to-day programs, practices, and services. Annually, we recommit to this policy which extends to employees, supervisors, managers, and contractors. Similarly, it is the responsibility of HHS supervisors and managers, who must lead by example, to ensure the business of the Department is conducted in accordance with this policy. Discriminatory or harassing behavior will not be tolerated at HHS.
In fulfilling the HHS mission to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, we honor the diversity of the HHS workforce by promoting an environment free from discrimination and harassment for all employees and applicants for employment. HHS’s Equal Employment Opportunity Policy ensures no employee or applicant for employment is denied equal employment opportunity because of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information. It is also illegal to retaliate against a person because they complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. These protected bases are set forth in anti-discrimination statutes, including (but not limited to) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, (“Title VII”), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022.
In addition to HHS’s zero tolerance against discrimination, reprisal, and harassment, employees and supervisors are reminded that consequences for violating this policy may include disciplinary action, including removal from federal service.
To ensure that the HHS workforce is educated and informed of their rights and remedies under anti-discrimination statutes, employees, including managers and supervisors, are required to complete the EEO Awareness and Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act training every two years.
We continue to work with HHS’s leaders to reaffirm the goal and expectation that every employee, supervisor, and manager strives to create and maintain a culture that supports and embeds respect, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in every aspect of our programs, practices, services, and culture.
All employees and applicants must be able to exercise their right to participate in the EEO process, oppose discriminatory practices, and engage in whistleblowing or exercise any other right provided by law, without fear of retaliation. If you believe you have been subjected to unlawful discrimination, which includes unlawful harassment or reprisal, please contact your supervisor, a member of your management team, your servicing Operating Division’s EEO Office, or the Department’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity, and Inclusion. In order to pursue a complaint of discrimination, you must contact your Operating Division’s EEO Office or the Department’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity and Inclusion within forty-five (45) calendar days of the event you believe constitutes unlawful discrimination or reprisal, or of your becoming aware of that event: https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/asa/eeo/about-eeo/programs-offices/index.html
Employees may obtain further information on how to report harassment by contacting their Operating Division’s Anti-Harassment Program Coordinators. Their contact information may be found at https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/asa/eeo/about-eeo/programs-offices/anti-harassment/index.html. Additionally, employees may report allegations of reprisal for whistleblowing to the Office of Special Counsel at https://osc.gov/ or 1-800-872-9855. Employees may also raise such allegations to the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of the Inspector General at www.oig.hhs.gov or 1-800-447-8477.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
HHS Secretary