Bullying, harassment and discrimination policy

Here at the Co-op we have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of bullying, harassment or discrimination.

We know that experiencing inappropriate behaviour can make working life miserable and take an emotional, physical and mental toll on our colleagues. We will always take any allegations very seriously.

This Policy explains:

How we expect our colleagues to behave
What to do if you see or experience inappropriate behaviour
How we can all help to create a respectful working environment
How to access impartial emotional support whether you are experiencing inappropriate behaviour, you have been accused or you are supporting a colleague

This Policy applies to all colleagues, as well as agency workers and contractors.

Crucial bits

We all have a responsibility to create a culture where bullying, harassment and discrimination doesn’t happen in our Co-op, and challenging it or reporting it if we see it happening.

Just so you’re aware, if we find that you’ve bullied, harassed or discriminated against someone, made false allegations, or treated a colleague badly because they’ve raised a legitimate concern, we regard this as potential gross misconduct and you may be dismissed under the Disciplinary Policy.

What is bullying?

Bullying can be described as unwanted behaviour from a person or group that is either:

offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting
an abuse or misuse of power that undermines, humiliates, or 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 noticed by others

Examples of bullying at work could include:

someone has spread a malicious rumour about you
your boss keeps giving you a heavier workload than everyone else
someone keeps putting you down in meetings
someone holding back information or deliberately "losing" information
being excluded from team social events
someone has put humiliating, offensive or threatening comments or photos on social media
someone at the same or more junior level as you keeps undermining your authority

Bullying is not:

Being held accountable for your performance or behaviour
Constructive feedback
Conflict or difference of opinions

Upward bullying

Upward bullying is when a colleague bullies a more senior colleague or manager.

It can be from one colleague or a group of colleagues. Examples of upward bullying can include:

showing continued disrespect
refusing to complete tasks
spreading rumours
doing things to make you seem unskilled or unable to do your job properly

It can be difficult if you’re in a senior role to realise you’re experiencing bullying behaviour from you colleagues, however a senior position does not make you immune to the impact and effects of bullying and we would take any allegations just as seriously as any other.

What is harassment?

Harassment is when bullying or unwanted behaviour is about or because of any of the following protected characteristics under discrimination law (Equality Act 2010)

Sex
Disability
Age
Race and ethnic or national origin
Sexual orientation
Gender reassignment/Trans or Non-Binary Status
Religion or religious belief
Political opinion (in Northern Ireland)

It includes unwanted conduct that is sexual in nature and treating someone badly because they either rejected it or because they went along with it.

Harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 and equality legislation in Northern Ireland.

If someone’s behaviour is unwanted and causes offence, even if it wasn’t done on purpose, it may be harassment. The unwanted behaviour doesn’t have to be aimed at you for you to be offended by it. If it creates an intimidating or offensive environment for you or anyone else, then it could be harassment.

Examples of harassment at work could include:

Sexually suggestive jokes, comments or innuendo, offensive gestures or whistling
Unnecessary touching
Suggestions that sexual favours may further someone’s career, or that refusing them may damage it
Offensive remarks about a group’s or an individual’s race, ethic or national origin
Outing a colleague as trans or non-binary without their permission
Repeatedly using the wrong pronouns or name for someone who is trans or non-binary, despite having the correct information
Ridicule or assumptions based on racial stereotypes
Spreading rumours or gossip about someone’s sexual orientation or gender
Making jokes or offensive remarks about someone’s disability
Excluding someone because of their political opinion or religious group

Harassment can include:

A serious one-off incident
Repeated behaviour
Spoken or written words, imagery, graffiti, gestures, mimicry, jokes, pranks or physical behaviour that affects the person

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

Harassment because of pregnancy or maternity is treated differently under the discrimination law but is still unlawful under the prohibition of direct sex discrimination.

Also, whilst the law on harassment doesn’t cover marriage and civil partnership, harassment because of marriage/civil partnership, is still unlawful under the prohibition of direct discrimination.

What is discrimination?

By law, being discriminated against is when you are treated unfairly because of any of the following:

Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage or civil partnership
Pregnancy or maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation

These are known as 'protected characteristics'. It’s against the law for anyone to treat you less favourably because of them.

Examples of direct discrimination at work could be:

Someone is not offered a promotion because they’re a woman and the job goes to a less qualified man
A close friend of a colleague has surgery to change their sex. Some of his colleagues find out about the surgery and stop inviting them to social events
A manager rejects a colleague for a wine buying team because they believe the colleague is Muslim because of their name and would therefore not want to work with alcohol.

Victimisation

The law also protects people against victimisation – which means being treated badly because they have, or they plan to, or they are thought to have:

Brought an employment tribunal claim alleging discrimination
Complained about discrimination
Given evidence or information in relation to someone else’s claim about discrimination.

Getting advice

If you feel that you’re being bullied, harassed, or discriminated against, it can sometimes be difficult to decide how you want to deal with it. It can help to talk this through with someone. We would always suggest that you speak to your line manager initially to talk things through or with another manager if you don’t feel comfortable.

We have a free confidential colleague helpline that you can contact for advice, which is managed by Health Assured. They can be contacted on 0800 640 9088 or BHD@healthassured.co.uk.

If you’re a member of a trade union, you can also contact them for advice.

If you have witnessed bullying, harassment or discrimination its best not to stay silent. If you can, speak to the person to who the negative behaviour is directed towards and ask them what support they need.

Resolving things informally

It’s always better to try to sort things out informally if possible. Explaining to the person responsible how it makes you feel and asking them to stop may get things resolved. They might not realise the impact of their words or actions or have meant to offend you.

But if you don’t feel able to speak to the person, talk to your manager about the problems you’re having. If it’s appropriate, your manager may speak to them confidentially to say that their behaviour is inappropriate and needs to change. Wherever possible your manager will aim to resolve things quickly and informally without the need to use a formal process. Dealing with things informally is often much less stressful and quicker for everyone involved than a formal process

If you don’t feel you can speak to your manager, or your complaint is about them, you can speak informally to your manager’s line manager. There may be other people you feel comfortable speaking to, such as another manager, or your trade union if you’re a member - or you can make a formal complaint.

We have a free confidential colleague helpline that you can contact for advice, which is managed by Health Assured. They can be contacted on 0800 640 9088 or BHD@healthassured.co.uk.

Making a formal complaint

If you don’t feel able to sort things out informally, you can make a formal complaint. Making a formal complaint should usually be a last resort. To do this, you’ll need to raise a grievance. You’ll need to put your grievance in writing and send it to your manager - or if your complaint is about your manager, to their manager. See the Grievance policy for more information.

We know it’s not an easy thing to do to speak up about these things, so we’ll investigate this as quickly as possible. If we find evidence, we’ll take appropriate action against those involved.

Sometimes, your manager may decide that the nature of the grievance is such that it needs to be considered formally, for example if the complaint is very serious or where the informal approach would not be appropriate.

Support and protection for colleagues

If you raise a concern in good faith, or you’ve witnessed bullying, harassment or discrimination at work, we’ll give you support. We won’t allow you to suffer negative treatment in your employment because of it.

Also, if you’ve been accused of bullying, harassment or discrimination and we find this is untrue, we won’t allow you to suffer negative treatment in your employment because of it. We’ll also give you support if you need it.

Getting emotional support

We know that experiencing inappropriate behaviour can make working life miserable and take an emotional, physical, and mental toll on our colleagues. We also know that it can be helpful to be able to get confidential emotional support from someone impartial and from outside any formal process.

If you are experiencing bullying, harassment or discrimination, have been accused or are supporting your colleague and you need support or someone to talk to, the Co-op Employee Assistance Programme is available 24 hours a day.

You can call 0800 069 8854 for free. It's run by Telus Health – a company that specialises in colleague helplines. It’s totally confidential and they don’t need to know which part of Co-op you work in.

Performance Management

Bullying isn’t the same as managing someone’s performance. If your manager’s giving you work to do or managing your performance using an informal or formal process - and they’re doing that in a professional and supportive way - this won’t on its own be considered bullying.

But if you do feel that your manager’s behaviour towards you is unacceptable, talk to them about it. If you feel like you can’t do this, there are other ways you can raise your concerns – see ‘Making a formal complaint’ above.

Things to think about

Remember, you’re responsible for your own behaviour while at work, any time you’re representing the Co-op outside of the workplace or at any work-related event. And we’re all expected to be respectful and considerate of other people and individual differences - for more information, see the Inclusion and diversity policy.

Behaviour outside work

If you experience unwanted or offensive behaviour that happens outside of the workplace but still to do with your work, like at a work-related social event or training course, tell your manager. They’ll investigate and deal with it in line with this policy.

Social media

If you put potentially offensive or inappropriate comments or images about or directed at colleagues or customers on social media sites, we’ll take this very seriously and investigate it in line with this policy. There’s more information in our Social media policy.

Behaviour of customers or external parties

If you experience or see inappropriate behaviour by customers or third-party contractors in your workplace, it’s really important you don’t feel like you just have to put up with it. Incidents of inappropriate behaviour should not be tolerated.

All colleagues can use MySafety to report incidents of this type. You should report incidents at https://how.coop.co.uk/mysafety We have made changes to MySafety and added a crime type for incidents of harassment and discrimination which allows the business to notify the field team and relevant managers in the business to make sure the correct support and advice will be given to you. The police use different definitions for bullying, harassment and discrimination from customers or third-party contractors which is why we ask you to report it differently.

If you need further support

If you have any questions about bullying, harassment or discrimination or have experienced inappropriate behaviour or unfair treatment, then speak to your manager or another manager in your business area. If you feel that you can’t speak to your manager, then you can contact the free confidential bullying and harassment helpline on 0800 640 9088 or email BHD@healthassured.co.uk.

Remember we have an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) who can provide colleagues with emotional support. You can contact the EAP on 0800 069 8854. It’s independent and totally confidential. And there’s no charge for Co-op colleagues.

If managers need advice, they can contact ER Services.