Management Of Legislative Workplace Conduct

Office of legislative workplace relations - creation - duties - confidentiality - workplace harassment - executive sessions - exceptions to CORA - appropriation. The act creates the office of legislative workplace relations (office) within the office of legislative legal services and makes the records of that office exempt from public inspection. The office is charged with handling employee relations, including the handling of complaints under the workplace expectations and workplace harassment policies. Records of the office related to complaints, investigations, and other inquiries are exempted from the definition of public records and are not subject to public inspection; except that the office is required to release an annual statistical report of the numbers of complaints received and their resolution. In addition, if a workplace harassment committee finds that it is more likely than not that a legislator violated the policy, the committee must release the report unless it decides by a two-thirds vote not to do so.

The act allows a state public body to meet in executive session to consider a matter related to the workplace harassment or workplace expectations policies of the general assembly.

The act clarifies that all Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) custodians are required to deny a request to inspect records that are created or provided by the office and that relate to complaints, investigations, inquiries, or requests related to workplace harassment or conduct under the general assembly's policies.

A disclosure of an intimate relationship filed in accordance with a policy of the general assembly is part of an individual's personnel file, and therefore not subject to public inspection under CORA.

For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $221,925 from the general fund to the legislative department for the new office.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)