A committee of the National Personnel Authority issued a report Wednesday stating that the government's policy against sexual harassment should apply equally to after-work social gatherings and the official work day.
The report, which covers national civil service personnel, will be the basis for guidelines to be issued by the NPA by April 1999, urging government ministries and agencies to take more preventative measures against sexual harassment.
The government's sexual harassment policy should also be applicable to males as well as females and to noncareer track workers, the report suggests.
The report proposes that ministries and agencies develop their own regulations and training programs to prevent sexual harassment, and that the NPA maintain contact with branches of the government by holding conferences with designated representatives from each ministry or agency.
Last year, the committee conducted a survey of about 5,000 national civil servants and found that 70 percent of female employees said they had been sexually harassed through unwanted touching or lewd jokes, prompting the committee to develop countermeasures.