Commencing a formal complaint
The Formal Complaint Form should be used to make a formal complaint and a copy should be emailed to (opens in a new window)edi@ucd.ie. Once submitted, the form will be reviewed confidentially by a member of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team to ensure it has been completed correctly. The complaint will only be viewed by the Strategic EDI Manager and the administrator for the EDI Unit. Once reviewed, the complaint proceeds to the Preliminary Screening process.
Each section of the form should be filled out to the best of your ability. You can seek assistance when completing the form the Dignity & Respect Support Service adviser or a Dignity and Respect Support Colleague.
You are only required to fill out one complaint form in the instance that there are multiple complaints (i.e., a complaint falling into more than one definition of bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct) against the same respondent and all complaints will be investigated in the same investigation. If there are two or more respondents, you are required to fill out a separate complaint form for each named respondent. If there are a number of complainants making a complaint about a related incident in the same timeframe against the same respondent, this may be investigated under a single investigation and a separate report for each complainant will be issued.
The complaint will normally be acknowledged within 3 working days of receipt of the Formal Complaint Form to (opens in a new window)edi@ucd.ie.
Do I have to make a Formal Complaint?
The University will not put pressure on a reporting person to take any particular course of action, rather the focus will be to give the appropriate support to make a decision that is right for them. A reporting person will be supported to bring a complaint forward if they so wish and no penalisation/victimisation on the basis of submitting a complaint will be tolerated. The University will support and respect the decision of the reporting person to pursue a formal complaint or not.