County Executive Steve Schuh Announces New Mediation Program for County Employees

Annapolis, MD (October 4, 2017) –In his continued effort to ensure understanding and tolerance in government, County Executive Steve Schuh today announced Anne Arundel County government will begin offering a voluntary Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint mediation program as a dispute resolution venue for county employees expressing internal EEO-related concerns.

“This new mediation program will ensure we can resolve disputes between our employees in an effective and meaningful way,” said Schuh. “The effort is a demonstration of our commitment to make our County a welcoming place to work. EEO Mediation fosters a proactive problem-solving approach by the parties involved in the dispute and improves communications between employees. ”  

Once a concern is reported to the County Human Relations Compliance Officer and/or the Office of Personnel, the concern will be preliminarily assessed to determine whether voluntary EEO mediation is deemed appropriate.  EEO mediation may not be offered in some cases, and EEO mediation will not affect an employee’s right to request an internal investigation or file a complaint. 

The County Human Relations Compliance Officer in consultation with the Office of Personnel, will develop and implement the internal EEO complaint mediation program for employee disputes that encourages respect, open dialogue, and resolution.

The new program is outlined in County’s comprehensive Human Relations plan.  The plan focuses on Anne Arundel County’s efforts at community engagement, training, recruitment, incident response, and mediation. The full guide can be found at aacounty.org/united.