Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda item

Agenda item

Employment Policies and Procedures - Bullying and Harassment

Minutes:

The Panel received a report and presentation from the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development (H of HR&OD) which provided details of the County Council’s Employment Policy and Procedure relating to bullying and harassment. The key issues highlighted were:

 

·         The Bullying and Harassment Policy had been introduced in September 2018 as part of a raft of new core employment policies. In keeping with the ACAS Code of Practice on Discipline and Grievances, a separate policy had been developed for bullying and harassment, whereas previously, these issues had been dealt with through the Council’s grievance procedures.

·         The importance of the Council’s statement of commitment which set out a clear, strong message in simple language which was easy to understand.

·         The Policy outlined clear definitions and examples of behaviour that might constitute bullying or harassment. It also set out sources of support for employees; ways in which a complaint could be taken forward and the potential consequences of any action.

·         The employment policies were easily accessible with clear signposting from ‘Our Space’ (the Council’s intranet).

·         The results of a recent in-house Pulse survey, completed by about a third of staff, showed that 74% of respondents indicated that they would ‘strongly agree’ or ‘tend to agree’ that they would feel confident to raise concerns about harassment at work.

·         The H of HR&OD reported that at a previous Panel meeting, he had indicated that he would also report the results of a Trade Union survey. He had, however, discovered that this survey related to workplace violence and therefore not directly relevant to the Panel’s discussions.

·         In response to a Member’s question, it was confirmed that violence was covered under the gross misconduct disciplinary procedure.

 

The Corporate Equality and Diversity Manager (CE&DM) advised that she was keen to put together an e-learning module to compliment the Bullying and Harassment Policy. This would include background information and examples of scenarios, detail sources of support for employees receiving or witnessing bullying or harassment and demonstrate to employees the importance of this issue and reinforce an appropriate organisational culture. Occasionally, the CD&EM would also work informally with a team of employees, where it was felt the culture was not as it should be. The H of HR&OD stressed that wherever possible, issues would always be resolved at an informal stage.

 

 

 

During the ensuing discussion, the following points were made:

 

·         A question was asked about the support available to staff who were accused of bullying or harassment, before it was determined whether they were guilty. The H of HR&OD acknowledged that it was an anxious time for both employees involved and managers had a responsibility to support both employees through this process.  If necessary, they could suspend an employee if this was deemed appropriate, but the HR team always aimed to ensure that the matter was dealt with as quickly as possible to reduce stress as much as possible.

·         A Member enquired about what a member of staff should do if they witnessed bullying or harassment. The H of HR&OD advised that staff were always encouraged in these circumstances to talk to their Manager, or the HR team.

·         The issue of bullying and harassment by County Councillors was raised, in particular whether there was appropriate guidance for staff as to where to seek advice in such circumstances. The H of HR&OD advised that although the Monitoring Officer was responsible for dealing with any such incidences, he would ensure that signposting for employees was included in the FAQ’s section on the website.

·         A Member queried how many cases were currently being dealt with through the bullying and harassment procedures.  The H of HR&OD advised that whilst three cases had been raised in the last year, all three had later been determined to be grievances and had been dealt with as such.

·         The CE&DM highlighted the importance of the Policy recognising and being clear as to what bullying and harassment was, as well as what it was not.  She stressed, for instance, that robust performance management was not bullying.

·         In response to a question, it was confirmed that new Managers received appropriate training on the employment policies. It was also highlighted that Equality in the Workplace was covered in the induction course for all new staff.

 

The Chairman thanked the Officers for their contributions and commented that he felt the Panel had benefitted from their detailed examination of this Policy.

Supporting documents: