What happens after I submit a disclosure? (staff)

You can choose to disclose anonymously via Report + Support, or to give your personal details:  

 

 

If your disclosure relates to a student and you decide that you would like the University to consider initiating an investigation, we will pass your details onto the University’s Student Conduct and Appeals team - who will contact you directly to provide further information. 

 

If you are making a disclosure about another member of staff, the information you provide will be directed to the relevant team within Human Resources.  An HR Adviser or Manager will contact you discreetly about your disclosure within 3 working days to discuss what happens next.  You can advise whether you prefer to communicate in person, by email or telephone etc and we will honour your preference wherever possible. 

 

My disclosure is about someone else (for example, a visitor, a contractor working on campus) 

Depending on who your disclosure is about, we will ensure that it is directed to the appropriate place for it to be addressed, such as Security, EFM. 

 

What happens next? 

 

Depending on the nature of the disclosure you have made, HR may: 

 

At this initial stage you do not have to make a formal report to either the Police (if relevant) or the University.  We want to ensure that you have as much information as possible to make an informed choice about your reporting options. If you decide that you only want to access support from the University, and do not want to make a formal report, then you will not be pressured to do so. 

 

Confidentiality and risk 

Information that you share will be treated confidentially and sensitively.  There may, however, be situations where we need to take action despite your wishes; we will always seek your co-operation with this and try to minimise the impact on you, but if we believe there is a risk to you, or someone else, we will take reasonable action to manage the risk and protect the relevant parties. 

 

Depending on the circumstances of the report you are making, different policies and procedures may apply (e.g. grievance, Dignity at Work).  Where possible, concerns are dealt with informally in the first instance.  As a broad principle, there is likely to be a fact-finding investigation.  You will have the opportunity to set out your concerns and your version of events, and the reported person will separately have the opportunity to respond to the concerns and give their version.  An independent decision-maker will review the evidence and decide on any further action needed.  In some cases, the Police may also conduct an investigation.  The University will only undertake an internal investigation where we are certain that it will not jeopardise any enquiries being made by the Police.   Occasionally, measures might need to be taken to limit interactions between individuals or the University based on assessed risks.  This does not imply any guilt and is only instigated to allow an investigation to take place.  

 

There is a need to balance your confidentiality with that of the person you are reporting.  In some cases, the final outcomes after the investigation may not be able to be shared with you.  For example, if the reported person was subsequently subject to action under the University’s staff Disciplinary policy. 

 

Disclosing Anonymously 

If you have disclosed anonymously then we will not be able to contact you directly in order to offer support, however we strongly encourage you to read the support information available on Report + Support. If your disclosure relates to Sexual violence/harassment then you may also find the support resources at www.consentcollective.com/sheffield helpful. 

 

If at any point you would like to access further support you can submit a disclosure with your personal details via Report + Support.