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Harassment Policy
1.0 Introduction
1.1
The REC wishes to ensure that all employees receive fair
treatment regardless of their colour, race, nationality,
ethnic origins, gender, marital status, sexual orientation,
age, disability or religion.
1.2 The
REC is committed to creating and maintaining a working
environment for its employees which is free from
harassment. This policy describes the contribution that the
REC expects its employees to make towards achieving this
objective and how it will respond to behaviour which fails
to meet this standard.
2.0 Employee
contribution
2.1 Harassment is defined as unwanted and
unwelcome comments, looks, actions, materials, suggestions
or physical contact which the employee finds objectionable
and offensive and which a reasonable person would find
unacceptable.
2.2 All
employees have a duty to contribute towards maintaining a
pleasant working environment by:
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treating
colleagues with respect and valuing the diversity of people
working for the REC and the contribution they bring.
-
ensuring
that they behave fairly and reasonably towards colleagues
and not in a way that cause offence.
-
supporting
colleagues who may have suffered unfair or offensive
behaviour.
-
managers, in particular, have a responsibility to lead by
example, to ensure that employees understand what sort of
behaviour is unacceptable and to ensure that the workplace
is free from the expression of attitudes that may justify or
lead to harassment.
-
employees with responsibility for guests to the REC’s
officers have a responsibility to ensure that there
behaviour does not cause offence and to raise the issue with
them if their behaviour is not acceptable.
3.0 Responding to harassment: Option for informal
action
3.1
Sexual, racial and other forms of harassment are breaches of
the REC’s disciplinary rules and such behaviour may be
liable to disciplinary action.
3.2 Where breaches occur the REC seeks always to encourage a
return to acceptable behaviour. This objective will
frequently be shared by the complainant who will usually
only want the offending behaviour to stop.
3.3 If
employees consider that they have been subjected to
harassment want the matter to be dealt with informally
outside the disciplinary procedure, the REC whilst reserving
the right to institute disciplinary proceedings if it
considers it appropriate, will place a high regard on the
views and wishes of the employee. Conversely, no pressure
will be placed on employees to use informal methods if they
do not consider it appropriate.
3.4 If
the employee feels confident, an immediate response to an
isolated instance of unacceptable behaviour, making it clear
that it is unwelcome, will often achieve the desired
result. Similarly, colleagues who witness such behaviour
may wish to raise their concerns with the person they
consider to have behaved unreasonably.
3.5 In
some situations, however, the behaviour may be more subtle
and its effect cumulative. In such circumstances, employees
are advised to keep a note of the details and dates of any
incidents that have caused them distress.
3.6 Employees who wish to try and resolve a problem informally
may seek support from a colleague, trade union
representative or manager in raising their complaint with
the individual concerned.
3.7 Employees who are approached by a colleague complaining of
unacceptable behaviour are urged not to dismiss their
concerns out of hand. Differences of attitude or culture
and the misrepresentation of social signals can mean that
what is seen as harassment by one person may not seem so to
another. Employees are urged to recognise that, regardless
of intent, their behaviour may have caused offence and that
an apology with a change of behaviour on their part is an
appropriate response if someone says that they have
genuinely been offended.
3.8 Employees should keep a note of the date and of any
witnesses if they raise an informal complaint of
unacceptable behaviour. If the behaviour does not abate,
such notes may be relevant to any subsequent disciplinary
proceedings.
4.0 Responding to harassment: Option for formal
action
4.1
If informal methods of addressing the problem are not
successful, or employees experience what they consider to be
harassment feel that the matter is too serious for informal
redress, or the manager considers that the matter is serious
enough, allegations of harassment will be dealt with under
the REC’s disciplinary procedure.
4.2 A
complaint in a harassment case dealt with under the
disciplinary procedure is in the unique position of being
both a complainant and a witness. This can be an especially
stressful experience. They may, therefore, be accompanied
by a trade union representative or a friend to give them
support whilst giving evidence to as disciplinary hearing,
although the trade union representative or friend will not
be permitted to speak at the hearing.
4.3 Depending on the seriousness of the alleged offence,
instances of harassment will be dealt with at the
appropriate level of the disciplinary procedure, up to an
including gross misconduct for the most serious offences.
4.4 As
with all disciplinary matters, the managers investigating
and hearing the case will pay proper regard to any
organisational factors which may have contributed to the
situation and identify any remedial or follow-up action
which may be necessary.
5.0 Victimisation
5.1
The REC will not tolerate the victimisation of staff who
complain of harassment and any such instances will be
treated with particular severity.
6.0 Review
This
document was approved by Race Equality West Midlands Forum
on 7 February 2002, amended October 2007 and reviewed on an
annual basis by the Chief Executive with the next date of
review scheduled for January 2009.
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