Procedure
The employer is obliged to investigate and follow up all reports and shall protect both parties in such cases.
If a reporting case involves allegations against employees or students at the University of Oslo, the case officer must first investigate whether the allegations may be correct. Erroneous accusations may be based on the reporter being in good faith, but having perceived the circumstances of the case incorrectly. This could serve as grounds for closing the case without further follow-up. The assessment must be documented, and both the reporter and EIR must be informed.
Receiving report
- UiO’s online form for reporting behaviour will be submitted on a secure electronic line to our Internal Auditing Unit who will decrypt the report.
- The Internal Auditing Unit then sets up a reporting council which decides who should follow up the case.
- If reports are submitted in other ways, they are forwarded to the manager responsible for handling the case.
- You will receive confirmation that your report has been received as soon as possible, preferably within a week.
- The manager responsible will normally invite you to a meeting. The purpose of such meeting is for you to have the opportunity to talk about your experience so that whoever is dealing with your case can gain an insight into what has happened.
- If an employee reports their line manager for circumstances relating to bullying, discrimination, threats, violence, abuse, or any other forms of harassment, the manager’s manager shall take over personnel responsibility for that employee while the case being reported is processed. The employee shall be notified about who has taken over temporary personnel responsibility.
Meeting
- You have the opportunity to be accompanied to the meeting by someone to support you/an adviser.
- During the meeting you will have the opportunity to elaborate on your experience, and whoever will be following up your case will have the opportunity to ask follow-up questions.
- You will have the opportunity to present documentation and you will be asked about whether or not there are any witnesses to the incident(s).
- You will receive information about what happens next.
- Minutes of your meeting will be kept and you will have the opportunity to read them and provide input.
- The person you have reported will receive information about the content of your report and will thus be provided with the opportunity to respond to the accusations (the contradiction principle).
Obtaining documentation
- We recommend that you write down what you have experienced as quickly as possible after it has happened.
- Whoever handles your case will obtain documentation. It is therefore important to save any documentation which supports your case (e-mails, text messages, letters, photos, etc.).
- Whoever handles your case will also consider whether or not it will be necessary to call witnesses for a meeting in order to shed as much light as possible on the case.
- In the event of claim against claim: please be aware that UiO may have limited opportunities for imposing sanctions on an employee if there is no evidence to prove that something censurable has occurred. However, your report may be important for ensuring that the same things do not happen again.
Concluding a case
- The processing of a case shall be documented in writing.
- Whoever handles the case shall ensure that it has been adequately investigated before a conclusion is drawn about whether or not any censurable condition or behaviour has occurred.
- The parties to the case are entitled to know the conclusion. If you have reported on behalf of someone else, you do not have access to it and you are no more entitled to receive more information about the report than the public at large. However, you are entitled to receive information showing that the case has been concluded.
Further follow-up
- The employer must consider whether or not measures will be required in order to reestablish a proper working environment.
- Even if it is concluded that no censurable behaviour has been committed which would provide grounds for a formal reaction, the employer will be able to follow up the case with the employee concerned and point out that such behaviour must not be repeated.
- If any censurable behaviour has been committed, the manager shall consider whether or not to initiate a personnel case.
- Personnel cases are separate cases, and you, in your capacity as the person who has reported the case, will not receive information about such case.
- Even though you do not receive information about a personnel case, this does not mean that the case will not have consequences for whoever has been reported. A formal reaction could, for example, include the following:
- A written or verbal warning
- Disciplinary action
- Removal of duties/responsibilities
- Redeployment
- Dismissal
Ban on retaliation
- Retaliation after a report has been submitted is prohibited. This means that you shall not experience any negative sanctions such as expulsion, deprivation or changes in your work duties, dismissal or suspension.
- The Internal Auditing Unit at UiO receives a copy of all reported cases and will be able to check that cases have been followed up.
- If you nevertheless experience any negative consequences from submitting a report, please get directly in touch with the Internal Auditing Unit.
Reporting to the police
- If an incident is a crime, you should consider reporting it to the police. UiO may also take the initiative to report a case to the police.
False accusations
- Please be aware that it may be a criminal offence to make false accusations against someone. A report which is obviously incorrect or designed to cause harm could affect an employee’s personnel relationship or a student’s study rights.