Procedures for making a report to the Equality Ombudsman or the police

Contents on this page: 

• When someone reports the University to the Equality Ombudsman
• When someone makes a report to the police about abusive conduct
• Discrimination compensation and serious incidents

When someone reports the University to the Equality Ombudsman

Anyone who feels they have been subjected to harassment or sexual harassment has the right to report their case to the Equality Ombudsman. This right applies regardless of whether you, as a line manager or operational manager responsible for education, are aware of the harassment and have carried out an investigation or not.

Anyone who feels discriminated against during a recruitment or admission process can also report the University to the Equality Ombudsman. The basis for such a complaint must be that the person has felt disadvantaged by the University in relation to others in a comparable position due to something related to the grounds of discrimination.

The Equality Ombudsman assesses the individual’s complaint and Lund University is given the opportunity to comment on it. If the report concerns your department, division or equivalent, you are to compile the information you have about the situation and submit it to the Equality Ombudsman. Summarise what you have done and what documentation is available. Involve the faculty’s SFAD coordinator and the SFAD team early on for support in managing the investigation.

In some cases, it may be necessary for the Equality Ombudsman to take legal action if they consider the organisation to have failed in its duty to investigate, its preventive work or concludes that harassment has occurred in accordance with the Discrimination Act (regardless of the results of previous investigations). This may result in your department or equivalent being liable to pay discrimination compensation to the victim, as well as legal costs. You will receive support from the central administration in the event of a court case. Contact the SFAD team in these cases.

When someone makes a report to the police about harassment

Harassment and sexual harassment are usually investigated in order to provide a basis for creating and maintaining a good work environment. Sometimes the incident may also be a criminal offence under the Swedish Penal Code, in which case this should be reported to the police.

In most cases, it is the victim (employee or student) who is to report the incident to the police. However, as a manager with an employer role or a manager with operational responsibility for education, you can offer support to the victim, for example through the Occupational Health Service, the Student Health Service or by reminding them about the health and safety representative, the trade union, the student ombudsman and the students’ unions.

If something has happened that could be considered a crime against the University in any way, the University must report it to the police or file a criminal complaint. Please contact the Security and Environment Division for assistance and support in determining whether the incident should be reported to the police by the University.

If an employee has done something that may be a crime against the University, a criminal complaint may need to be filed. In this case, it should be handled by the Staff Disciplinary Board (PAN) or the Government Disciplinary Board for Higher Officials (SAN).

The University is not to investigate whether an incident perceived as harassment is a crime, but rather whether the incident is something that can be remedied and prevented by the employer or education provider.  If you become aware that someone has reported an incident of harassment to the police that requires the University to investigate, you should check with the police about the status of their criminal investigation.

Please discuss any issues that may be unclear with your local SFAD coordinator and work environment coordinator. The SFAD team is also available for support, through the SFAD coordinator, HR or the work environment coordinator.

Discrimination compensation and serious incidents

When an investigation concludes that an incident constitutes harassment or sexual harassment under the Discrimination Act, the victim is entitled to discrimination compensation. The person must request the compensation from the University in writing and the request will be handled as part of a separate procedure. The cost is borne by the organisation, faculty or department that did not protect the person from harassment. Contact the SFAD team for support in the process if you receive a claim for discrimination compensation.

If the violation relates to a case of victimisation, there is no obligation to pay any compensation to the victim. However, the Swedish Work Environment Authority may carry out an inspection if there are several cases of victimisation of a similar nature in the same organisational unit. If the organisational unit demonstrates shortcomings in terms of procedures and incident management (as laid out in the Swedish work environment legislation), the organisational unit is given time to correct these. The Swedish Work Environment Authority can impose a penalty if the organisational unit does not correct the shortcomings in time.

All serious violations must always be reported to the Swedish Work Environment Authority as a serious incident according to the instructions on the HR website. A serious incident may in turn lead to an inspection by the Swedish Work Environment Authority.

Read more about serious accidents or incidents