; and (C) the covered employee who filed the complaint and the accused employee may request the presence of an attorney or a victim advocate in the mediation. (2) Requiring parties to be separated during mediation at request of employee At the request of either party, the parties shall be separated during any mediation proceeding under this subsection. (c) Availability of alternate work assignment or paid leave of absence during pendency of procedures (1) Options for employees (A) Emergency curtailment of overseas assignment At the request of a covered employee who files a complaint of harassment, discrimination, sexual assault, or related retaliation, an employee may request emergency curtailment of his or her tour of duty at no penalty to their career progress and shall be reassigned. Such requests for emergency curtailment shall be approved by the Secretary or their designee, not post management, within 10 days. The Department shall develop a process by which covered employees may request this option in a manner which does not inadvertently result in retaliation to the employee. (B) Alternate work assignment At the request of a covered employee who files a complaint, during the pendency of any of the procedures available under this title for consideration of the violation, the employing office shall permit the covered employee to carry out the employee’s responsibilities from an alternate location where such relocation would have the effect of materially reducing interactions between the covered employee and any person alleged to have committed the violation, instead of from a location of the employing office. (C) Exception for work assignments required to be carried out onsite If, in the determination of the covered employee’s employing office, a covered employee who makes a request under this subsection cannot carry out the employee’s responsibilities from an alternate location or such relocation would not have the effect described in subparagraph (B), the employing office may during the pendency of the