Reviewing your Policy
Resolving Complaints
Communicating your Policies and Procedures

Reviewing your Policy

• Ensure your organisation abides by lawful workplace practices (HREOC website).
• Ensure the CEO and senior management endorse your organisational policy. They will need to be role models for the behaviour they expect from staff.
• Consider linking your policy to an organisational commitment affirming the value of diversity – that is, principles that respect all employees.
• Look at supplementing your sex-based harassment policy with a broader anti-harassment policy.
• Integrate your policy with a code of conduct or code of practice that respects diversity and the rights of all employees. Have employees agree to this code of practice as part of their employment contract.
• Ensure your line managers to actively support your policy.
• Ensure your policy covers all types of issues (eg, harassment via inappropriate use of e-mail or Internet).
• Establish complaints procedures.
• Ensure that your complaints procedures are transparent and easy to follow.
• Ensure that your complaints procedures are accessible and that all staff feel confident to use them.
• Ensure the complaint process is objective, for both the complainant and the respondent.
• Communicate your procedures to managers and all staff.
• Put in place a network of harassment contact officers and ensure that officers are trained in respect to diversity issues.

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Resolving Complaints

• Deal with all complaints promptly and confidentially.
• If harassment complaints are assessed to be other than sex-based, be prepared with a procedure for dealing with them.
• Provide training to staff that are dealing with complaint resolution. Ensure that training encompasses issues related to managing diversity in the workplace.
• Insist all staff keep matters confidential, with resulting disciplinary action if they don’t.
• Ensure that proven offenders are not simply transferred to another area or department.
• If proven offenders remain with the organisation, require them to undergo further training and counselling.
• Ensure that all complaints, whether proven or false/misconceived, are managed well.
• Provide support to people who are involved in a complaint.

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Communicating your Policies and Procedures

• Ensure that your policy is accessible to all staff. (For example, make sure it is displayed in a physically accessible location for all employees, and in alternate languages for employees who lack English fluency.)
• Educate new staff and new managers on the company policy and complaint process on an ongoing basis. Conduct refresher training for all employees regularly.
• Educate your managers and supervisors on how to manage their people more effectively.
• Ensure that staff are aware of the consequences of breaching the policy and of making false or misconceived complaints.
• Integrate harassment prevention training into mainstream management training. Ensure that training encompasses diversity principles – that is, respect for all employees – and recognises potential vulnerabilities of some employees (for example, women who may experience cultural or linguistic barriers to reporting harassment.)
• Keep a record of who has attended harassment training.
• Ensure education campaigns promote better understanding of harassment so that staff feel comfortable raising issues, and are aware of the consequences of making false or misconceived complaints.
• Link results in this area to performance reviews and bonus allocations for managers.
• Effectively monitor outcomes of previous disputes to ensure that your resolution has been successful.
• Put strategies in place so that there are no 'repeat performances'.
• Be aware of where problems may arise (for example, the office Christmas party) and prepare accordingly, such as a reminder notice or e-mail to all staff who will be attending about expectations of their behaviour at the party.
• Ensure managers actively support the policies in place.
• Promote a workplace culture based on openness and trust, where behaviours that treat people with dignity and respect are valued.

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