Greosn Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy

Description: Group Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy

Policy Applicable to: Greosn Group

Policy Owner: Greosn Board

Last Updated: (Version 1) January 2025

Next update due: January 2026

Version: 1

Our Policy

Greosn is committed to creating a work environment free of bullying and harassment, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. This type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. This policy should be read in conjunction with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

Bullying and harassment can have very serious consequences for individuals in our business. It may make people unhappy, may cause them stress and affect their health and family and social relationships, may affect their work performance, and could cause them to leave their job. Severe cases can even lead to mental illness and suicide. Effects on our business can include loss of morale, poor work performance, increased turnover of staff, legal claims, and damage to our reputation.

This policy will be introduced to all new starters during the induction process and access will be provided through their manager. Employees are expected to familiarise themselves with the content. Appropriate disciplinary action may be taken including dismissal against any employee regardless of seniority who

breaches this policy.

Scope

This policy applies to all growing companies within the Greosn Group, their sites and locations across the UK and to permanent and temporary/seasonal employees. It does not apply to Pro-Force employees and agency workers. It does not form part of an employee’s contract of employment and may be amended at any time. Greosn may also vary the procedure at their discretion.

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the directors of each business in the group to review, agree and implement this policy.

What is bullying and harassment?

Bullying – there is no legal definition, but it can be described as unwanted behaviour from a person or a group that is either:

·         offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting

·       an abuse or misuse of power that is meant to undermine, humiliates, causes physical or emotional harm to someone

The bullying might:

·       be a regular pattern of behaviour or a one-off incident

·       happen face to face, on social media, in emails or calls

·       happen at work or in other work-related situations

·       not always be obvious or notice by others Examples:

·        someone spreads a malicious rumour

·        someone keeps putting others down in meetings

·        a manager keeps giving a heavier workload to one person compared to others

·        someone puts humiliating, offensive or threatening comments or photos on social media

·        someone at the same or more junior level keeps undermining someone’s authority

Bullying can also happen from employees towards a more senior employee, a manager, or an employer (this can be called 'upward bullying' or 'subordinate bullying').

Harassment is when bullying or unwanted conduct is related to the following protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010:

Age+Gender Reassignment+ Disability + Race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin + Relgion or belief +  

Sex + Sexual orientation

The law on harassment does not cover the protected characteristics of marriage and civil partnership or pregnancy and maternity. However, the unwanted behaviour might be Direct Discrimination.

For it to count as harassment, the unwanted behaviour must have either:

·        violated the person's dignity, whether it was intended or not

·        created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the person, whether it was intended or not

The harassment can include:

·        a serious one-off incident

·        repeated behaviour

·        spoken or written words, imagery, graffiti, gestures, mimicry, jokes, pranks, physical behaviour that affects the person

Examples:

·       physical conduct ranging from unwelcome touching to serious assault

·       unwelcome sexual advances

·       the offer of rewards for going along with sexual advances, e.g., promotion, access to training

·       threats for rejecting sexual advances, e.g., suggestions that refusing advances will adversely affect the colleague's employment, evaluation, pay, advancement, assigned work, or any other condition of employment or career development

·        demeaning comments about a person's appearance

·        unwelcome jokes or comments of a sexual or racial nature or about an individual's age, disability, sexual orientation, or religion

·        questions about a person's sex life

·        unwanted nicknames related to a person's age, race, or disability

·        the use of obscene gestures

·        excluding an individual because they is associated or connected with someone with a protected characteristic, e.g., their child is gay, spouse is black, or parent is disabled

·        ignoring an individual because they are perceived to have a protected characteristic (when they do not have the protected characteristic), e.g., a employeeis thought to be Jewish, or is perceived to be a transsexual

·        the open display of pictures or objects with sexual or racial overtones, even if not directed at any particular person, e.g., magazines, calendars or pin-ups;

It's still against the law even if the person being harassed does not ask for it to stop.

The law on harassment also applies to:

·       a person being harassed because they are thought to have a certain protected characteristic when they do not

·       a person being harassed because they're linked to someone with a certain protected characteristic

·       a person who witnesses harassment, if what they've seen has violated their dignity or created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive working environment for them

Sexual Harassment - under the law, there's also protection against:

·        harassment because of a person's sex, for example a male boss regularly putting down a female employee because she's a woman

·        sexual harassment, which is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature. This can be written, verbal, imagery, physical or sexual assault. For example, someone making sexual comments or trying to touch someone against their will

·        being treated less favourably because they've received or stood up against these types of harassment

All bullying and harassment is misconduct and is a disciplinary offence which will be dealt with under our disciplinary policy. Bullying or harassment will often be gross misconduct, which can lead to dismissal without notice.

What is victimisation?

Victimisation is subjecting a person to a detriment because they have, in good faith, complained (whether formally or otherwise) that someone has been bullying or harassing them or someone else, or supported someone to make a complaint or given evidence in relation to a complaint. This would include isolating someone because they have made a complaint or giving them a heavier or more difficult workload.

The company will take appropriate action to deal with any alleged victimisation, which may include disciplinary action against anyone found to have victimised a fellow employee. Where it is found that an untrue complaint has been made, this may lead to disciplinary action being taken against the complainant.

What should employees do if they think they are being bullied or harassed?

Informal resolution – if a employee has an issue of bullying or harassment it is better if this can be resolved informally in the first place. Employees should:

·       Talk to the employee and explain clearly that their behaviour is unacceptable and must stop, or

·       Request that a manager approaches the employee to explain that a complaint has been made about their behaviour and this behaviour must cease immediately.

If this resolves the matter, no formal action will be taken. Failure to cease this behaviour could lead to disciplinary action being taken. Greosn reserves the right to investigate further and take more formal action. For more serious issues, the informal resolution may not be the best approach.

Employees may raise a complaint directly with senior management or a director if it concerns their immediate manager or is of too personal or sensitive to raise with their immediate manager.

Complaints can also be made confidently via the independent third party whistleblowing helpline. See the Whistleblowing Policy for details.

Employees are encouraged to seek assistance from their manager when they want advice regarding appropriate steps to stop the bullying or harassment. Any such discussion will be kept strictly confidential. The manager will inform the employee if the issue should be raised internally and seek their agreement. Greosn reserves the right to decide if it is necessary to take more formal action.

Formal complaint procedure – If the informal resolution is unsuccessful or considered inappropriate in the circumstances, the employee can raise a formal grievance through the grievance procedure to their manager.

The employee must provide the following details:

·       the name of the alleged bully/harasser,

·       the nature of the bullying or harassment,

·       the dates and times the bullying or harassment occurred,

·       the names of any witnesses

·       any action taken by the complainant to resolve the matter informally.

Where the employee and the alleged bully/harasser work in proximity to each other, it may be necessary to ensure they do not continue to do so whilst the complaint is being investigated and during any

consequent disciplinary proceedings. This may necessitate that one or both parties be suspended on full pay or making other temporary changes to working arrangements pending the outcome of the

investigation.

All complaints will be investigated promptly usually and impartially and, so far as practicable,

confidentially and in line with the Greosn Grievance policy. A meeting will be held with the employee to consider their allegation and to enable them to put their case. It may be necessary to interview

witnesses to any of the incidents mentioned in the complaint including the alleged bully.

Greosn will follow this investigation process:

Within 5 days - arrange meeting with the employee-Employee has right to be accompanied by employee or TU Rep at all meetings-Meeting purpose - employee to explain their complaint and how it can be resolved-Outcome of the appeal is final and no further appeal is available-Employee has the right to appeal against the decision with 5 days of written confirmation-Decision will be confirmed in writing within 5 days of the meeting(s) to employee.

All meetings will be minuted and outcomes documented. Greosn will decide if any action should be taken against the bully/harasser in line with the Greosn Disciplinary Policy.

Any employee who deliberately provides false information or otherwise acts in bad faith as part of any investigation into bullying and harassment may be the subject to disciplinary action.

Responsibility of Employees, Supervisors and Managers

It is the responsibility of all employees to comply with this policy. Supervisors and managers have a particular responsibility to:

·       set a good example by their own behaviour

·       ensure all employees understand the standards of behaviour expected of them

·       act when behaviour falls below these requirements

·       ensure that bullying and harassment is understood to be unacceptable by all within Greosn

·       raise serious bullying and harassment incidents with the relevant director to seek specialist advice

What can employees do to help stop bullying and harassment?

All employees have a responsibility to help create and maintain a work environment free of bullying and harassment. Employees can help to do this by:

·       being aware of how their own behaviour may affect others and changing it, if necessary - they can still cause offence even if they are "only joking"

·       treating their fellow employees with dignity and respect

·       taking a stand if they think inappropriate jokes or comments are being made

·       making it clear to others when they find their behaviour unacceptable, unless it should be obvious in advance that this would be the case

·       intervening, if possible, to stop bullying or harassment and giving support to recipients

·       making it clear that they find bullying and harassment unacceptable

·       reporting bullying or harassment to their manager and supporting investigations into complaints

·       if a complaint of bullying or harassment is made, not prejudging or victimising the complainant or alleged bully/harasser