Introduction
Introduction
This policy is part of a set of key policies that apply to everyone working at the Crick. There may be additional policies that apply to you if you used to work in the MRC or CRUK institutes that pre-dated the Crick or if you work in a particular team or area of the Crick.
Policy statement
This policy is to ensure a safe and inclusive environment that supports a culture of zero tolerance of bullying, sexual harassment, harassment and victimisation.
Key obligations
Everyone must treat colleagues in the Crick community with respect and dignity, must not behave in a discriminatory way and must not harass, abuse or intimidate others.
All members of the Crick community should be able to recognise, challenge and, where necessary, raise concerns about bullying or harassment should it arise.
Manager responsibility
Managers have a duty of care to their team members and must take effective, sensitive and swift action when incidents of bullying or harassment are brought to their attention.
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Policy details
Why do we need this policy?
We are proud of the diversity of the Crick community. The Crick is committed to an environment where open, honest, respectful communication is the expectation, not the exception, and where standards of behaviour and good work practices are upheld. We want to provide a working and learning environment in which everyone is treated with respect and dignity, free from harassment and bullying. If anything falls below these standards, we want to make it as easy as possible to report your concern and access support.
This policy sets out the responsibilities of all members of the Crick community in ensuring that everyone feels able to work and study in a discrimination-free environment where differences are valued and respected.
The aim of this policy is to foster an environment in which bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and victimisation are treated as unacceptable behaviour and to support a proactive approach in preventing inappropriate behaviour in the workplace. All members of the Crick community should be able to recognise, challenge and, where necessary, raise concerns about bullying, harassment or sexual harassment should it arise, with confidence that their complaint will be treated both fairly and appropriately.
Who does it apply to?
This policy applies to the whole Crick community which includes all Crick employees, students, visitors (including visiting scientists), contractors, agency staff, service providers, Trustees and anyone else engaged to work at the Crick, whether by direct contract with the Institute or otherwise.
The policy covers incidents at the Crick and at any work-related setting outside the institute, e.g. conferences, retreats, Crick-related social events, social media activity in or outside of working time.
What role do I play and what are my responsibilities?
As a member of the Crick Community, you are expected to:
- Treat everyone with respect and dignity.
- Not discriminate or incite others to behave in a discriminatory way.
- Not harass, abuse, bully or intimidate others.
- Not victimise or attempt to victimise anyone who has raised concerns about bullying or harassment, or who has provided information on bullying or harassment.
- To be an active bystander by taking actions to address unacceptable behaviour if you witness it.
- Report incidents to your manager or the People Advisory team as soon as possible, if you think they are inappropriate or choose an alternative way of raising concerns that you feel comfortable with.
What additional responsibilities do I have as a manager?
Managers have a duty of care to their teams. They should always consider their tone and ensure they treat staff with dignity and respect, modelling the inclusive behaviour as outlined in the Crick Code of Conduct.
If a manager becomes aware of bullying and harassment or can be expected to have been aware of it even if it was not reported, they need to act quickly and fairly to resolve the situation. It is recommended that managers seek support from the People Advisory team, even if the complaint is dealt with informally.
Managers have a duty under UK law to prevent harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace. Managers can do this by demonstrating the above, as well as:
- Being attentive: watching for signs of harassment and sexual harassment and address issues promptly and effectively.
- Promoting awareness: ensuring all team members attend sexual harassment awareness training and respectful communication.
- Encouraging reporting: fostering an environment where employees feel comfortable reporting incidents without fear of retaliation.
Requirement to inform funders
The Crick’s funders have in place certain obligations for the Crick, in the case where individuals funded by their grants are either formally investigated under the Dignity at work policy (subsequently Grievance and/or Disciplinary policies) or receive a formal sanction for behaviour which is out of line with the principles of the Dignity at work policy.
For Wellcome and CRUK grants, we are required to inform the funder when submitting a grant application if the lead applicant for any grant has had an allegation of bullying or harassment upheld against them, for which there is either a current formal disciplinary warning or an active sanction.
We are also required to inform them if a formal investigation has been commenced into any allegation of bullying or harassment relating to someone associated with (i) a lead applicant, sponsor or supervisor; (ii) a participant in the grant or (iii) any individual on any advisory committee. We are obliged to keep them updated of any investigation and the outcome following any final appeal, including sanctions if upheld.
What is bullying, harassment and victimisation, and how do I recognise it?
Not all bullying, victimisation or harassment is intentional or targeted and the perceptions of what is acceptable will vary from person to person.
It can occur with or without witnesses, in face-to-face interactions, using electronic devices e.g., smartphones or online. It can happen at the workplace during work hours, or outside the workplace outside of normal work hours.
To meet the standards of workplace behaviour expected at the Crick, it is essential that you are aware of both your voluntary and your involuntary behaviours and the impact you have on others. It may also be helpful to refer to the Code of Conduct as it sets out how we want to work together at the Crick to create a safe and respectful environment for everyone.
Bullying
Bullying is offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, and/or an abuse or misuse of power or position, which has the intent or effect of making a person feel threatened, upset, humiliated or vulnerable. It is intentional and repeated behaviour, and it may be explicit or concealed.
Whichever form it takes, it is unwanted and will often cause embarrassment, fear, humiliation, or distress to an individual or group of people. It can have a long-standing impact on mental health and wellbeing of people subjected to bullying
This type of behaviour can constitute bullying:
- Shouting.
- Persistent unwarranted criticism.
- Personal insults.
- Being humiliated, criticised, or belittled in front of your colleagues or other people about work, personality, or appearance.
- Isolation or non-cooperation and exclusion from social activities.
- Setting impossible deadlines or allocating unrealistic volumes of work.
- Consistently undermining manager's authority.
- Cyber-bullying e.g., spreading gossip on social media.
And this behaviour is not bullying, but a normal workplace practice:
- Manager providing constructive feedback on quality of your work, performance, or behaviour.
- Scientific discourse conducted in a respectful manner.
- Manager asking questions or requesting updates.
- Respectfully disagreeing or asking for an explanation of reasons behind a decision.
- Not being invited to a meeting where you are not required.
- Being placed on a performance improvement procedure where your performance is not of the required standard.
Victimisation
Victimisation is a type of harassment and occurs when someone treats another person less favourably because they have made a complaint about harassment. Enabling someone else to treat another person less favourably because they have reported being harassed is also a form of victimisation.
Harassment
Harassment shares many characteristics with bullying. It is unwanted conduct related to, but not limited to, a relevant protected characteristic that:
- has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the individual, or
- is reasonably considered by the individual to have the effect of violating their dignity or of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them, even if this effect was not intended by the person responsible for the conduct.
Harassment because of someone’s protected characteristics is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.
Protected characteristics are age; sex; gender; gender identity, expression or reassignment; sexual orientation; race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins); religion or beliefs (including lack of religion or belief); disability; family/marriage or civil partnership status; and pregnancy/maternity. Harassment because of someone’s protected characteristics is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.
Harassment may be many incidents or it may be only one isolated incident. A single incident can be harassment if it is sufficiently serious.
Here are some examples of harassment:
- Unwanted physical contact ranging from touching to serious assault.
- Coercion for sexual favours.
- Pressure to participate in political/religious groups.
- Unwelcome remarks, jokes or comments of a sexual, homophobic, biphobic or transphobic, ageist or racial nature.
- Offensive language; gossip and slander; sectarian songs, threats, or letters; racially or sexually derogatory or stereotyped remarks and statements; offensive terminology relating to people with disabilities.
- Jokes or remarks that have a lewd, sectarian, or racist content or which contain innuendo, mockery or content relating to a disability.
- Unwanted or intrusive questioning/gossiping about an individual’s marital status, civil partnership status, sexual orientation, age, religious belief, political opinion, race, or ethnic origin.
- Displaying offensive posters or graffiti containing pornography or obscene gestures, sharing memes on social media.
- Excluding an individual because they are associated or connected with someone with a protected characteristic, or ignoring an individual because they are perceived to have a protected characteristic.
- Unwelcome written or visual communications, including inappropriate emails, texts, notes, or pictures.
- Interrupting, speaking over someone in meetings or ignoring their contributions.
- Unwelcome communications on social media such as use of social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook etc. to ridicule, harass or bully, including communications posted on any such sites out of working hours.
- Unwelcome non-verbal conduct such as making abusive or offensive gestures.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is unlawful under the Worker protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010). Harassment can be unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the effects described above. Sexual harassment may also occur if a person is treated less favourably than others because of their rejection or submission to conduct of a sexual nature. Employers must do all they reasonably can to protect staff from sexual harassment and take steps to prevent it happening.
The law (Equality Act 2010) protects the following people against sexual harassment at work:
- employees and workers
- contractors and self-employed people hired to personally do the work
- job applicants.
To be sexual harassment, the unwanted behaviour must have either:
- violated someone's dignity, whether it was intended or not
- created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them, whether it was intended or not.
Examples of sexual harassment
Verbal: Suggestive remarks, jokes, or comments about someone's appearance or personal life.
Physical: Unwelcome touching, hugging, patting, or brushing against someone's body.
Non-verbal: Displaying or sharing sexually explicit images, emails, or texts.
What some people might consider as joking, 'banter' or part of their workplace culture is still sexual harassment if:
- the behaviour is of a sexual nature
- it's unwanted
- it violates someone's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.
Standards
How does the Crick determine if behaviour is unacceptable?
When considering concerns of bullying or harassment, the Crick will apply a test of ‘reasonableness’ to determine if bullying or harassment has taken place, i.e., would any reasonable person consider this behaviour to be unreasonable without the recipient having to make it clear in advance that behaviour of that type is not acceptable to them, e.g., unwanted sexual touch, or use of discriminatory language.
Individual perceptions of acceptable or unacceptable behaviour vary due to differences in attitude, values, experience, or culture; what one person may consider acceptable behaviour may be unacceptable to another. When deciding if the behaviour constitutes bullying and/or harassment, we will consider if the behaviour is unacceptable to the recipient and if the behaviour could reasonably be considered to amount to bullying and/or harassment under the relevant legislation and our Dignity at Work Policy.
As individual’s perception of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour differ, it is not always clear in advance that some forms of behaviour would be unwelcome, or could offend an individual, e.g., certain ‘banter,’ flirting or asking someone for a private drink after work. In these cases, first-time conduct which unintentionally causes offence might not be harassment, but it will become harassment if the conduct continues after the recipient has made it clear, by words or conduct, that such behaviour is unacceptable to them. Please refer to the Code of Conduct for further detail on how we are expected to work together with dignity, respect, and integrity.
What are my legal rights if I find the behaviour of a colleague unacceptable?
The Equality Act 2010 provides individuals with protection from harassment on the grounds of:
- a perceived protected characteristic, even if that perception is incorrect, e.g., making offensive remarks about a perceived sexual orientation, or an individual being harassed because they are considered to have a disability
- their association with another person who has a protected characteristic, e.g., they are harassed because they have a disabled relative
- an actual personal characteristic, e.g., a disabled person is harassed because of their disability
Individuals have the right to complain about behaviour they find personally offensive even if it was not directed at them. For example, a young worker can complain about ageist remarks made about an older colleague, regardless of whether the older worker was present when the remarks were made.
The Worker protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) places increased responsibility on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The Crick has implemented policies, guidance and training on the prevention of sexual harassment and will take immediate and appropriate action in response to any reports.
How to complain
How do I raise a complaint about bullying, harassment or victimisation?
Do not ignore unacceptable behaviour.
The Crick seeks to develop an environment in which everyone feels valued and respected, as outlined in the Code of Conduct.
We will:
- Treat all complaints seriously.
- Encourage informal resolution in the first instance where appropriate.
- Investigate all complaints sensitively and in a timely manner.
- If the complaint is upheld, appropriate disciplinary action under the Crick Disciplinary procedure will be taken against the person responsible for bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and/or victimisation, who may also be subject to criminal and/or civil proceedings.
- Fulfil our duty of care in protecting staff, students and colleagues, which may result in us deciding to act on the complainant’s concerns or complaints independently.
- Not victimise anyone who makes a genuine complaint in good faith, even if the complaint is not upheld. However, any complaints that are made which are malicious or vexatious or which the complainant knows to be untrue may lead to the instigation of disciplinary action.
- Maintain confidentiality and only disclose information to relevant parties to protect the complainant and the reputation of the person who the complaint is about.
- Inform the funders about formal investigations or sanctions, where it is required by the grant conditions (see requirement to inform funders section of this policy).
- Report anonymised complaints of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment or victimisation to the Crick Staff Consultative Forum (CSCF) on a quarterly basis.
Procedures
Post procedures
What to do I do if I am formally accused of bullying, harassment or victimisation?
If a formal complaint is made about your behaviour, it will be fully investigated and dealt with in accordance with the Crick’s Grievance policy, which may result in disciplinary action.
Being accused of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment or victimisation is a difficult situation, and you can obtain support through the People Advisory team, Staff Consultative Forum or any other channel outlined in the section below. Any complaints and associated investigations and processes will be managed fairly, sensitively and in confidence.
You must not victimise a person who has made a complaint against you, or anyone who has supported the person in making the complaint or given evidence in relation to such a complaint. Disciplinary action may be taken against you if the Crick has good reason to think that you may have victimised the complainant or an individual that has supported the complainant.
A member of People Advisory team will support you, the complainant, and your manager in making arrangements for the recommencement of a harmonious working environment.
Where can I get support and advice?
You can access support and advice in multiple ways:
- The People Advisory team can provide advice and guidance on the implementation of this policy and on how to address any concerns of unacceptable behaviour. Your people partner or advisor can also offer time for an informal confidential conversation
- You can refer to dignity at work guidance
- You can refer to the speak-up guidance
- The Equality and Inclusion Manager can provide advice if you feel that your case has an equalities aspect (harassment or victimisation based on a protected characteristic) edi@crick.ac.uk
- You can speak to one of your colleagues in the Staff Consultative Forum
- You can contact Student or Postdoc reps or the Academic Training team
- Mental Health First Aiders can be contacted if you need mental health support
- The Assistance Programme provided by Spectrum is an independent, confidential 24-hour helpline for the Crick community that provides advice and guidance on a range of issues
