Faculty, staff, and postdoctoral scholars may have a wide variety of concerns about the conduct of colleagues, managers, and others within the Institute. Some of these may be small issues while others may be more significant. If you feel that you were unfairly treated, MIT encourages you to raise your concerns and offers many people to talk to. There are many ways to resolve concerns – some informal and others more formal. Concerns should be addressed and resolved as promptly as possible. Ignoring behavior is not an effective way of changing that behavior.
Where to Begin
Some options for resolving a complaint are more formal in nature and may include an investigation; others involve a less formal written review; and still others rely on problem-solving approaches. The Institute encourages informal complaint resolution when that is possible and appropriate. The best option for you may depend on the seriousness of the offense, the type of resolution you prefer, and the conduct itself.
- Learn the initial steps you can take
- See ways to informally resolve a complaint
- Read FAQs about the complaint resolution process for complaints about conduct policies on the Institute Discrimination and Harassment Response Office (IDHR) website
- See a list of people and offices to talk to in Resources
Complaints about Employment Policy Violations
If you feel that any MIT employment policy was violated or misapplied (that is, applied in an arbitrary or capricious manner), you may choose one of the informal complaint resolution paths described above. If you raise your concern with your manager or supervisor, that individual may be able to look into the concern and effectively resolve it. In other cases, a human resources professional or another staff member may conduct a review that could help resolve the problem.
In addition to these managerial and HR reviews, MIT permits individual faculty, staff, and postdoctoral scholars to initiate a formal review of certain kinds of employment policies. These policies are termed “Conduct Policies” and are found in MIT's Policies & Procedures (P&P) Section 9.
This chart summarizes where to file complaints, with more explanation following the chart:
Where to file a complaint
|
|
Topic of Complaint |
Office to Contact |
Process |
| 1. |
Complaints based on protected class (see below)
|
Institute Discrimination and Harassment Response office (IDHR) |
Described in P&P Sec. 9.8 |
| 2. |
The following complaints not based on protected class
|
Central Human Resources office (HR) |
Described in P&P Sec. 9.8 |
| 3. |
Complaints about multiple policies; at least one is based on protected class (category #1) |
IDHR |
Described in P&P Sec. 9.8 for the protected class complaint |
| 4. |
Other conduct policies including
|
Central HR |
Process is case-specific, depending on the facts
|
| 5. |
Other employment-related complaints |
Central HR |
Process is case-specific, depending on the facts |
| 6. |
Other or not sure |
HR or IDHR |
The receiving office may refer the complaint to another office as appropriate |
More detail about the process for these categories is as follows:
Conduct policies that follow procedures in Section 9.8
Section 9.8 describes the processes that apply to complaints about two categories of Conduct Policies, specifically, those that allege either:
(1) discrimination, discriminatory harassment, or retaliation based on a protected class (e.g., race, religion, sex) or
(2) harassment or retaliation not based on a protected class.
Complaints of discrimination, discriminatory harassment, or retaliation based on protected class
The Institute Discrimination and Harassment Response Office (IDHR) handles complaints made by faculty, staff, or postdoctoral scholars about violations of the following Conduct Policies when the alleged conduct is based on an individual's protected class:
- Harassment based in protected class (Section 9.5)
- Nondiscrimination (Section 9.3)
- Racist Conduct (Section 9.4)
- Retaliation based on protected class (Section 9.7)
IDHR encourages anyone considering filing a complaint alleging one of these policy violations to file an incident report first. After an incident report is filed, IDHR will contact the individual to review the applicable policies and procedures, and explain more about their rights, options, and supportive measures The individual may choose to file a formal Complaint after this discussion. Alternatively, a member of the MIT community may begin by filing a formal Complaint with IDHR alleging a violation of one or more of these policies by using an online complaint form.
After receiving either an incident report or a formal Complaint, IDHR will do an initial assessment to ensure that the Complaint falls within that office’s scope; if not, IDHR will generally refer the complaint to HR. The assessment may consist of a review of the available information or a meeting with the Complainant to gather a more complete understanding of the allegations, and a discussion of whether any informal resolution might be appropriate.
If you are concerned about multiple policy violations and at least one is listed above, you should file an incident report or a Complaint with IDHR.
This process applies to complaints made against employees (including faculty) about work-related matters; complaints made against students are managed by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards and investigated by IDHR.
Complaints about harassment or retaliation not based on protected class or pay
MIT’s central Human Resources office handles complaints about violations of the following Conduct Policies where the alleged conduct is not based on an individual's protected class:
- Harassment not based on an individual's protected class (Section 9.5)
- Retaliation that is not based on an individual's protected class nor on an employee’s discussions of pay (Section 9.7)
HR encourages the individual to talk to their Human Resources Officer before filing a complaint. If you decide to file a Complaint about either of the policies listed above, use this form from the IDHR office. IDHR will refer your complaint to HR for review.
Upon receiving a Complaint about one of these policies, HR will review the Complaint and do an initial assessment. HR will generally contact the individual to explore the applicable policies and procedures, and to explain more about their rights and options, including informal options to resolve the concerns. If HR does do a formal investigation into the Complaint alleging a violation of one or both of these policies, HR will follow the procedures set forth in Policies & Procedures Section 9.8.
Complaints about multiple policies, at least one of which is based on protected class
If your complaint alleges a violation of more than one policy and at least one of the policies is about protected status (discrimination, discriminatory harassment, or retaliation based on protected status), you should contact IDHR.
As described above, IDHR recommends beginning by filing an incident report rather than a formal complaint. If IDHR’s initial assessment confirms that at least one policy involves one of the protected-status claims, IDHR will discuss options with the individual, including filing a formal Complaint. Alleged policy violations that do not fall under Section 9.8.1 are not investigated by IDHR. If IDHR concludes that an incident report or a formal Complaint does not allege a complaint about protected status, IDHR will refer the concerns to HR for follow up.
Other conduct policies
Investigations of the following Conduct Policies do not fall under the processes set forth in Section 9.8:
- Personal Conduct and Responsibilities Towards Students and Employees (Section 9.2)
- Violence against Community Members (Section 9.6)
These complaints are often better handled by a more informal review or more quickly than possible with a more formal review. HR may try to resolve the issue informally, or do a review that is less lengthy than a formal investigation under Section 9.8.
Complaints about other, non-conduct related policies
If you believe that someone in the MIT community (other than a student) has not followed an MIT employment policy other than one of the policies listed above, you may request a review by Human Resources. To do so, you should contact your Human Resources Officer. HR will determine the process for addressing such a complaint on a case-by-case basis. In many cases, informal methods of resolution will be used. In other cases, HR may do a written review, but one that is less formal than the full investigation set forth in Section 9.8. If, however, HR determines that a formal investigation is needed, the steps in Section 9.8.5.2 are usually followed.
If you are not sure which office to contact
If you are not sure which category your complaint falls into, you are encouraged to contact your Human Resources Officer or to file an incident report with IDHR. Either HR or IDHR will contact you to discuss the facts of your case and advise you which office would conduct a review or investigation if you decide to file a Complaint.
The complaint system described in this website applies to employees who are not in bargaining units at MIT. The complaint procedures may differ for members of bargaining units. Refer to the relevant Collective Bargaining Agreement or contact Labor Relations.