Behavioural Standards Guidance (Revised core values) - October 2024
In this section
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Scope
- 3. Confidentiality
- 4. Roles and responsibilities
- 5. Acceptable behaviour
- 6. Unacceptable behaviour
- 7. Defining discrimination (direct or indirect), victimisation, bullying, sexual harassment and harassment
- 8. Cyber bullying
- 9. Determining whether unacceptable behaviour is taking place.
- 10. Capability, conduct and positive management
- 11. Learning and Development
- 12. Resolving concerns relating to unacceptable behaviour
- 13. Formal action
- 14. Third party harassment
- 15. Malicious complaints
- 16. Ensuring equality of opportunity
- Appendix 1 - Definitions
- Appendix 2 - Managing Performance
- Appendix 3 - Informal Ways of Resolving Conflict
- Appendix 4 - Managing Conflict
- Appendix 5 - Standards of behaviour key contacts
8. Cyber bullying
Examples of cyber bullying or harassment using electronic means include:
- Offensive e-mail – sending offensive e-mails to a colleague or other third party even if it is supposed to be a joke in which a person might be offended by the content of the message or any attachments.
- E-mail threats – as well as a direct threat this could also include relatively inoffensive messages in terms of content but the implied meaning behind the message can constitute a form of bullying.
- Flame mail – sending aggressive and/or abusive emails to individuals or groups of individuals.
- Posting comments on blogs and social networking sites. We do not allow access to social media during working hours or our network at any time except for legitimate business reasons and where the relevant permission has been obtained. You need to be mindful that in relation to use of social media, it is not just business use that can have an effect in the workplace but also personal use of social media outside the workplace. Please refer to our Social Media Policy.
- Deliberately copying individuals into emails who do not need to know about the content where this is deemed to be inappropriate and has the intention of humiliating or undermining an individual.