Harassment and Bullying Procedure

If you feel you have been harassed or bullied, take action to deal with the situation.

Procedure for Students

If you feel you are a victim of harassment or bullying you are entitled to take action to make this behaviour stop.

There are three possible ways for you to do this:

Option One
  • The college has a trained team of Confidential Contacts, who will be able to talk to you in confidence about the situation you are in and may be able to help you to resolve the problem in a way that you feel is satisfactory.
  • You will find the names and contact details of the Confidential Contact team. on the Equality and Diversity Notice Board, or in the Leaflet available in Reception and in the Adult Resource Centre (ARC)
  • Once you have made contact, the Confidential Contact will try and arrange a meeting with you within the next 5 days
  • The Confidential Contact will be able to offer you a maximum of 3 meetings of up to an hour each. If further support is required the Confidential Contact will discuss the situation with their senior manager.
  • You may be able to agree to one of the following approaches

Talk to the person who is upsetting or worrying you and tell them that you wish it to stop (take a friend, colleague or member of staff with you for support and as a witness, or the Confidential Contact can find someone to support you.

Remember:

  • The person may not know they were acting wrongly
  • You may have misread the situation
  • Hopefully the talk will lead to an apology and a change for the better

Write a letter to the person saying that you did not like their behaviour

Remember:

  • State the date in the letter when the behaviour took place
  • Ask for a reply
  • Keep a copy of your letter
  • Give time for a reply
  • Hopefully the letter will lead to an apology and a change for the better

Ask a Confidential Contact to contact the person on your behalf

Remember:

  • The Confidential Contact might suggest a cooling off period
  • The Confidential Contact might offer to arrange a meeting. This would include the Confidential Contact and all those involved (take a friend, colleague or member of staff with you for support and as a witness, or the Confidential Contact can find you someone to support you)

If the problem is sorted out in one of these ways, the Confidential Contact may offer to support all those involved and to monitor the situation for you in future.

Record Keeping

If you feel that no action is needed then no records will be kept unless agreed.

If some agreed action is taken after discussion, records will be kept for a year by the Principal and then destroyed unless another allegation is made during that time

Option Two

You can take any of the actions outlined above in your own right and without the support of a Confidential Contact. If you choose to do this, we would recommend that you keep a written record of what takes place.

Option Three
  • If informal strategies have not been helpful, or if you feel that the alleged behaviour is very serious you can make a Formal Complaint.
  • Before you decide to make a complaint you might find it helpful to talk this through with a Confidential Contact who will be able to help you understand the procedure and its implications, and may, if appropriate, be able to suggest an alternative strategy
  • Send your complaint by letter to any member of the college Senior Management Team who will appoint an Investigating Officer. You will receive a response to your complaint within 5 days.

The following steps will be taken by the Investigating Officer:

  • Written statements will be taken from all those involved (a friend, colleague, member of staff or a Confidential Contact can help you with yours)
  • All those involved will be interviewed (a friend, colleague, member of staff or a Confidential Contact can come with you for this meeting)
  • The Investigating Officer will decide whether there is a case to answer; this decision will be reported to The Principal who may or may not take disciplinary action
  • All those involved will be informed of these decisions

Record Keeping

If formal action is taken - records will be kept by the Principal in accordance with the Disciplinary Procedures

If your problem or formal complaint is made in good faith, we will treat it seriously and any victimisation resulting from the complaint will be considered unacceptable and will appropriately dealt with by the college

NB If you have witnessed bullying or harassment and it has caused you distress, you may wish to speak to a Confidential Contact on your own behalf.

If you believe that you are involved in a situation which is urgent or dangerous, you should immediately approach a Senior Manager (room 215) or Duty Officer (name on notice board)

For further information and a copy of the Harassment and Bullying Policy ask in Reception or contact Catherine Fatkin - Quality and Equality Coordinator

Equality and Diversity