MAPE stewards help end harassment by providers at DHS

Department of Human Services (DHS) providers will no longer be allowed to harass employees in Region 21. 

Region 21 stewards urged workers to contact DHS management and Human Resources to act on complaints of ongoing harassment and disrespect against employees by a service provider. “Our colleagues perform their jobs in an exemplary manner, have no control over policy-making and just want a safe and productive work environment to better help their clients,” Region 21 Steward Dylan Adams said. 

Several employees recently left the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) team due to constant and increasingly personal harassment from a service provider. 

“We recently got a commitment from management to protect EIDBI employees and will take over communications with that provider,” Adams said. 

Management said the provider will receive a letter of expectation to abide by the State’s Respectful Workplace Policy. Management is currently reviewing licensing requirements for all home and community-based providers and will include notices to providers and companies they will need to abide by State policies including the Respectful Workplace Policy and the Anti-Discrimination/Harassment Policy. 

“There is no set standard for what to do if someone calls you a name, threatens you or harasses you professionally or personally. Through Meet and Confer, we will work on set policies for employees to report abuse,” Adams said. 

“Organizing works — this has been the most effective way I’ve seen for getting change at DHS,” Adams added.