Workplace Conflict Resolution Officer
A sincere welcome to the page about conflict counseling at the Chemnitz University of Technology. The conflict counseling service is available to all employees and students. Confidentiality must be maintained during the discussions, and complete independence must be maintained from the parties about the conflict as well as from employee representatives.
The goal of conflict counseling is not to establish an absolute truth from the perspective of one party to the conflict; rather, conflict counseling serves to create an environment that facilitates collaborative work. The goal of conflict counseling is not to establish an absolute truth from the perspective of one party to the conflict; rather, conflict counseling serves to create an environment that facilitates collaborative work. The method used to achieve this goal is mediation. This process begins with discussions between the individual parties to the conflict. Only then does the first mediation session take place.
A prerequisite for a successful resolution is the willingness of both parties to acknowledge the conflict and to take an active interest in resolving it.
In the service agreement on workplace conflict resolution, the Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts (SMWK) and the Main Staff Council at the Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts have agreed to establish a workplace conflict resolution officer.
In addition, the Chemnitz University of Technology Staff Council appoints a representative who, in cooperation with the representative appointed by the Rector’s Office, is responsible for providing conflict and harassment counseling at the Chemnitz University of Technology.
In accordance with the service agreement, the following categories are distinguished:
● Bullying, for example, includes attacks on,
○ communication channels, such as refusing to engage through gestures or repeated interruptions,
○ social relationships, such as being assigned to a room far away from colleagues
○ social standing, e.g., spreading rumors,
○ the quality of one’s professional and personal life, e.g., assigning meaningless, offensive, or degrading work tasks,
○ health, e.g., threats of physical violence.
● Sexual harassment in the workplace is any recognizably unwanted sexually motivated physical or verbal behavior that undermines the dignity of employees in the workplace. This includes, for example, ○ unwanted physical proximity and unwanted physical contact,
○ suggestive remarks, comments, and jokes with sexual references,
○ the display of sexist or pornographic images,
○ solicitation of sexual acts.
● Other serious cases of conflict may involve discrimination, i.e., the belittling of employees, e.g., ○ on racist or xenophobic grounds,
○ due to disability,
○ due to age, gender, or sexual identity,
○ or due to political, religious, or union activities.
Right to Consultation
The Service Agreement further states:
All employees who find themselves in conflict [...] are entitled to seek advice from individuals they trust, such as those from the following departments:
● Human Resources Department,
● Staff Councils (local staff council, general staff council, main staff council),
● Occupational Health Service,
● Equal Opportunity Officer,
● Women’s Representative,
● Representative for Severely Disabled Employees,
● Youth and Trainee Representative.
In addition, employees have the right to contact supervisors, including those from higher-level institutions, who are not involved in the conflict. This must not result in sanctions or have any adverse effects on the employee’s career.
Confidentiality
All parties involved must maintain confidentiality toward uninvolved parties in accordance with the terms of service.
