Dignity and Mutual Respect

Our policy on dignity and mutual respect ("the policy") explains what behaviour the University expects from you at work. It also tells you what you should do if you feel you're being bullied, harassed or victimised, or if you witness any inappropriate behaviour.

The University believes that every member of staff has the right to work in a supportive environment, free from harassment, bullying and victimisation. Similarly, every student at the University has the right to study and be taught in an environment that is supportive and free from such behaviours.

The definitions we use in the policy are:

  • Bullying: “offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour which intentionally or unintentionally undermines, humiliates, denigrates or injures the recipient”
  • Harassment: “unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of either violating another person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person”
  • Victimisation: “…involves treating someone less favourably than other people because that individual has either made, in good faith, a claim of harassment or bullying under this Policy, (or a claim of discrimination under another Policy, such as the University’s Equal Opportunities Policy), suggested or complained that, in some other way, he/she has, or may have been, discriminated against, bullied or harassed or that the University’s equal opportunities policies have, or may have, been breached in some way or helped some other person who is making such a claim, perhaps by providing evidence or some other form of support to that other person”

The policy means that you must treat colleagues with courtesy and respect, and not participate in, or condone, any act of harassment, bullying or victimisation. Disciplinary action may be taken if you are involved in these types of behaviour. Section 3 of the policy explains what kind of behaviour we expect from our staff.

If you feel that you are being harassed, bullied or victimised, or witness such behaviour, you should talk to your manager and/or your Faculty/Service HR team.  

The following pages will take you through the relevant process to try to resolve the issue:

  • If you're a member of staff and you believe you're being bullied, harassed or victimised by another member of staff, or witness to this behaviour, click here.
  • If you're a member of staff and you think you're being bullied, harassed or victimised by a student, or witness to this behaviour, click here.
  • If you're a student and you feel that you're being bullied, harassed or victimised by either a member of staff or another student, click here.

Staff being bullied, harassed or victimised by another member of staff

If you believe you're being bullied, harrassed or victimised by another member of staff, there is a process outlined in the University's policy on dignity and mutual respect ("the policy"), which is summarised below. Wherever you find yourself in the process, you should seek support from your HR Manager.

Step 1

If this is a person who has management responsibility for you, consider whether this behaviour could be standard management practice. Section 6.1 of the policy might help you to differentiate.

Step 2

If your colleague's behaviour isn't standard management/learning and teaching practice, would you feel comfortable trying to resolve the issue informally? Section 7a of the policy will give you some ideas on how to go about this.

Step 3

If you don't feel you can resolve the issue informally, or you've already tried and this didn't work, would you consider mediation? The University's Mediation Service could help you, and section 7b of the policy goes into more detail.

Step 4

If you're not comfortable trying mediation, or it hasn't resolved the issue, the next step is to submit an informal complaint.  Section 7c of the policy will tell you how to do this.

Step 5

If your informal complaint hasn't resolved the issue, the final step in the process is to submit a formal complaint through the University's grievance procedures.  Section 7d of the policy advises how to go about this.

If you need help, support, advice or clarification throughout any of the process, please don't hesitate to contact your Faculty/Service HR department.

Staff being bullied, harassed or victimised by a student

If you believe you're being bullied, harrassed or victimised by a student, there is a process outlined in the University's policy on dignity and mutual respect ("the policy"), which is summarised below.  Wherever you find yourself in the process, you should seek support from your HR Manager.

Step 1

Do you feel comfortable trying to resolve the issue informally? Section 7a of the policy will give you some ideas on how to go about this. 

Step 2

If you don't feel you can resolve the issue informally, or you've already tried and this didn't work, you should discuss the matter with your Line Manager or Head of School/Service to help you liaise with the student. Section 8 of the policy goes into a more detail.

Step 3

If discussion with your Line Manager or Head of School/Service has not helped to resolve the issue, you should submit a formal complaint in writing through the University's disciplinary regulations.

If you need help, support, advice or clarification throughout any of the process, please don't hesitate to contact your Faculty/Service HR department.

Students being bullied, harassed or victimised

If you're a student and you feel you're being bullied, harassed or victimised, there are measures available to you.

Section 3 of the policy explains what types of behaviour we expect of you as a student, and what we expect from the staff you interact with. In section 9, we explain what action you can take if you believe you're being bullied, harrassed or victimised, and this is summarised below. You should also check the Student Complaints Procedure for more detailed information.

Bullying, harassment or victimisation by a member of staff

You should first think about whether this behaviour could be standard learning and teaching practice. Section 6.2 of the policy might help you to differentiate.

If you don't feel that it is, you can try to resolve the issue directly with the member of staff. If you've tried this and it didn't work, then you should speak to a different member of staff in your School/Department to see if they can help you to resolve the issue.  If they can't, then you should put your complaint in writing to your Head of School. If the issue still isn't resolved after the Head of School has looked into it, you can put in a formal complaint to the University Complaints Officer.

Bullying, harassment or victimisation by another student

If you don't feel comfortable resolving the issue directly with the other student, or you've tried this and it didn't work, then you should speak to your residence's warden, your personal tutor or module leader or someone in the LUU Student Advice Centre, depending on where this behaviour is taking place. If the issue isn't resolved this way, you should put in a formal complaint to the University Complaints Officer.