Bullying and harassment
The Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences' expectation is that all members of the department treat others with dignity and respect. Any form of harassment should be discouraged by making it clear that such behaviour is unacceptable. Staff members should support any other member of the department who feels they have been subject to harassment.
What is bullying and harassment?
A person can harass another by engaging in unwanted and unwarranted conduct which has the purpose or effect of:
- Violating another person’s dignity
- Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for another person
The recipient does not need to have explicitly stated that the behaviour was unwanted and the intentions of the alleged harasser do not always determine whether harassment has taken place. The (reasonable) perception of the complainant is also be relevant in determining whether harassment has occurred.
What might be considered bullying and harassment?
- Unwanted physical contact, ranging from an invasion of space to an assault
- Sexual harassment including:
- inappropriate body language
- sexually explicit remarks or innuendoes
- unwanted sexual advances and touching
- Offensive comments or body language, including insults, jokes or gestures and malicious rumours, for example on the basis of race and religion or belief
- Open hostility, verbal or physical threats
- Insulting, abusive, embarrassing or patronising behaviour or comments, humiliating, intimidating, and/or demeaning criticism
- Persistently shouting at, insulting, threatening, disparaging or intimidating an individual
- Constantly criticising an individual without providing constructive support to address any performance concerns
- Persistently overloading an individual with work that that individual cannot reasonably be expected to complete
- Posting offensive comments on electronic media, including using mobile communication devices
- Threatening to disclose, or disclosing, a person’s sexuality or disability to others without their permission
- Deliberately using the wrong name or pronoun in relation to a transgender person, or persistently referring to their gender identity history
- Isolation from normal work or study place, conversations, or social events
- Publishing, circulating or displaying pornographic, racist, homophobic, sexually suggestive or otherwise offensive pictures or other materials.
- Stalking (following, contacting, monitoring, loitering, watching or spying on an individual)
If you experience, or witness anything you think may be considered as bullying or harassment, you should speak to one of the following people:
- A department harassment advisor
- Human Resources - Clare Wickings
- Your supervisor
- Your trade union representative
You can read more about the University’s procedure for dealing with harassment complaints here, along with information specific to staff and students and links to the harassment advisor network: https://edu.web.ox.ac.uk/harassment-advice
