New Abusive Conduct in the Workplace Policy
Effective January 1, 2023, the University of California Office of the President issued the Abusive Conduct in the Workplace policy, which applies to all UC employees, including 227,000 faculty and staff across this UC system. "I ask that locations join me in committing to the prevention of abusive conduct in the workplace by expanding the competency of University employees (staff, academic, and student employees) and leaders at all levels to recognize, address, and discipline violations of this Policy in an equitable manner that acknowledges that each individual in our community has the right to work in a respectful environment," wrote UC President Michael Drake in the policy's issuance letter.
The Staff Ombuds Office has been a long-time advocate for systemic change and policies to address workplace bullying.In 2010, the Staff Ombuds Office became the first office in the UC system to propose adoption of a bullying prevention policy. See 2008-2010 and 2010-2012 Staff Ombuds Office Biennial Reports. In 2016, Berkeley became the first campus in the UC system to issue a Workplace Bullying Prevention Policy for staff.Since that time, other UC campuses have adopted abusive conduct or workplace bullying prevention policies of their own, including UC Merced (2017); UC San Francisco (2019); UC Riverside (2021); UC Davis (2021). Passage of this systemwide policy is a historic moment for the University of California and confirms UC’s commitment to ensuring that abusive conduct is not tolerated in the workplace.