Any investigation will be conducted sensitively and promptly. The employee will be notified of the intended timetable for the investigation. The person to whom the disclosure is made may authorise an initial investigation to establish the relevant facts. The investigator will report his or her findings to the person to whom the disclosure was made, who will then decide if there is a case to answer and what steps, if any, should be taken. This may include setting up a special internal independent investigation or reference to some external authority, such as the police, for further investigation. The decision may be that the matter would be more appropriately handled under existing procedures for grievance, bullying and harassment, or discipline.
Where a disclosure is made any person or persons potentially implicated in wrongdoing will be told at an early stage of it and of the evidence supporting it, and they will be allowed to respond.
Should an investigation or referral lead the appropriate University authority to conclude there has been a breach of University discipline, the member or members of staff responsible may, in addition to any civil or criminal proceedings, be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the appropriate disciplinary procedures for the relevant category of staff.
The individual making the disclosure will be informed of what action is to be taken where possible although the need for confidentiality means it may not be possible to share some of the details including, for example, specific information about any disciplinary action taken against another member of staff.
Staff should treat any information about the disclosure, the investigation or its outcome as confidential.
If an individual is not happy with the way in which their concern has been handled or the outcome, it is open to the individual to raise this with one of the other persons specified in here.
Records
An official written record will be kept of each stage of the procedure (see Reporting of outcomes).