Report 2021-104 Recommendation 22 Responses
Report 2021-104: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: Its Leadership Has Failed to Promote Transparency or Ensure a Fair and Equitable Workplace (Release Date: April 2022)
Recommendation #22 To: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
To better ensure the effective handling of safety complaints and the protection of workers who make them, by October 2022 MWD should enhance its written policies to formally define retaliation and include specific steps responsible parties should take when performing the duties laid out in policy, such as protecting employees from retaliation.
6-Month Agency Response
Metropolitan safety staff revised Safety Policy HSEM 101.4-Safety Communications to incorporate retaliation policy improvements, which were adopted by the Board on August 16, 2022, including the definitions of retaliation and manager's mandatory requirement to report retaliation to the Ethics Office.
The Ethics Officer also proposed, and the Board of Directors adopted, amendments to Metropolitan's Administrative Code including section 7128: "Retaliation, Whistleblower, and Witness Protections." Section 7128 now includes a definition of retaliation and expanded protections for employees who report workplace safety concerns. The updated policy became effective August 16, 2022.
On September 7, 2022, the Ethics Office, in coordination with Metropolitan safety staff, began a series of live training webinars on safety-related retaliation in the workplace. Employees are required to complete a training session.
- Completion Date: October 2022
- Response Date: October 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented
60-Day Agency Response
To better ensure the effective handling of safety complaints and the protection of workers who make them, Metropolitan updated its safety manual with information about the district's retaliation policy, how to report safety-related retaliation to its Ethics Office or through an anonymous hotline, and the requirement for managers to report allegations of retaliation to the Ethics Office.
Metropolitan's Ethics Office staff is currently drafting updates to the retaliation policy consistent with the State Auditors' feedback.
- Estimated Completion Date: 9/30/2022
- Response Date: June 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented
As part of the new procedure referenced under Recommendation #21, MWD more clearly delineated the processes for reporting safety concerns and the responsibilities of various parties to report and receive allegations of safety-related retaliation. We will reevaluate the status of this recommendation when MWD completes revisions to its broader retaliation policy and procedures.
All Recommendations in 2021-104
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.