Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)'s mission is to advise commanders and management officials on any issues involving EEO, provide EEO training, manage all stages of complaint process to include counseling, investigation and adjudication process for host nation employees working for the U.S. Armed Forces in Belgium.
This program, as it is dictated by Belgian Laws, does not apply to host nation employees in The Netherlands and Germany. Read the sections below for more information on equal employment opportunity process in German and Dutch employees.
SERVICES BY COUNTRY
BELGIUM
COVERAGE
Two separate laws, issued in 2002 and 2003, cover discrimination and violence, moral harassment and sexual harassment. Discrimination can be based on sex, race, color, origin (national or ethnic), sexual preference, civilian status, birth, wealth, age, religious or philosophical conviction, current or future health status, handicap (mental or physical) and physical characteristic. Moral harassment covers mobbing, bullying, stress and burn-out.
THE PROCESS
At the informal stage, employees may choose to file a complaint by:
- The Internal Procedure: Contact the Host Nation EEO Office or one of the trustees (counselor)
- The External Procedure: Contact the external company named CESI.
At the formal stage, employees will contact the external company CESI.
CESI
Avenue Konrad Adenauer, 8. 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert
Telephone: +32(0)2-771-00-25
Website: www.cesi.be
GERMANY
For host nation employees working for the U.S. forces in Dülmen, Germany, please contact the District Works Council Administrative Office:
DSN: 314-544-1730/1720
Commercial: +49-(0)611-143-544-1730/1720
THE NETHERLANDS
For reporting suspicions of integrity violations within the Defense organization, employees can contact the supervisor under which the suspicion took place. If this is difficult, contact the Defense Integrity directly. Notifications, in addition to business violations, also cover all forms of undesirable behavior such as bullying, sexual transgressive behavior, (sexual) harassment and discrimination.
The hotline is part of the Central Organization for Integrity Defense (COID). COID falls outside the hierarchical line of the Defense components for the content of its work.
The reporting center receives the reports, registers them and transfers them to an advisor of the COID. In consultation between this advisor and the employee, it will be examined at what level the report must be invested within the Defense organization. It is important that the employee has confidence in the level at which the report is filed. The COID then advises the person with whom the report is made about how to deal with it properly.
Prior to a report, the employee can also spruce confidential with a confidential advisor. It is possible to report the (suspected) integrity violation or the undesirable behavior via the Reporting Center, by telephone, in writing or via e-mail. Meldpunt can be approached by Defense staff and external parties such as citizens and businesses.
Within the Dutch Ministry of Defense, there are a couple of agencies who deal with these issues:
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Central Organization Integrity
- Inspector General
- HRM Department
Contact the DUTCH Civilian Personnel Office for further information:
Commercial: +31(0)45-534-4103/4104
Mobile: +31(0)6-104-88-493