Response Municipality of Utrecht
All employees of the municipality of Utrecht deserve a safe and pleasant workplace. Situations where people feel unpleasant or unsafe, as described in the article, do not belong to us. People who experience this can go to confidants, we have a hotline and integrity coordinators. Both externally and internally. If an integrity report is made by a colleague, this report is always investigated.
Social safety and manners are great priority for the municipality of Utrecht as an employer. We stand that colleagues can work in a safe working environment and treat each other well. Nowhere within the organization may there be an unsafe working environment. But even at the municipality of Utrecht there are sometimes situations that are not desirable or downright unacceptable and what should be acted on.
That is why we are attracting the results of the investigation into the situation at the W&S department. The Governance & Integrity research agency is engaged after signals from employees. In the G&I report at the end of November, things and topics come to the fore that the organization immediately started working on. The recommendations have been taken over and will be implemented in the coming period. The starting point was from the start that we do this transparent towards our employees. It was therefore decided to share the report directly with all employees and to discuss at a meeting in subordinate clause of the researchers. This meeting took place at the end of November. A meetings took place in December to discuss the results again with the employees.
The report is therefore known to all more than 230 employees of W&S and the alderman has also been informed about this. Together with the employees, the management of W&S will give shape and content to the recommendations of the research agency in the coming period.
Organization Breed is also social safety, integrity and undesirable behavior priority. Employees can, for example, address the Integrity and Unwanted Behavior Advisory point, for discussing or reporting possible integrity violations and/or experiences with undesirable behavior, such as discrimination, bullying, inappropriate comments and (sexual) intimidation. Every year the city council receives an overview of which investigations have taken place. Employees can also always talk about integrity and undesirable behavior in the internal and external confidants of the municipality. In addition, there are training and training for managers and employees on the theme of safe working environment. There is also an accessible reporting protocol and there are reporting options for employees.