FAQ on Equal Opportunities Officers and Equal Opportunities Groups

It is the employer's responsibility to appoint an equal opportunities officer and a working group at the department/division with more than 25 employees.

The employer and the employee agree on the scope of the assignment, resources, and how long the employee is appointed equal opportunities officer. It is important that the assignment rotates among the employees

All employees except local HR and doctoral students can be appointed. The reason the local VHR cannot be appointed is that local HR is administrative support to the department's equal opportunities working group. The local HR, in its capacity as support to the head, is also an important link to the head of the department. It is also not optimal for a doctoral student to be equal opportunities officer since the doctoral student does not have a mandate and may risk being negatively affected in her/his/their doctoral studies due to the assignment.

With representatives of teaching staff, administrative staff, an undergraduate student, and a doctoral student that represents students/doctoral students and monitor that those perspectives are included in the equal opportunities work.

Are not responsible for the department's equal opportunities work. The employer and the education provider are responsible for the department conducting systematic equal opportunities work.

Should not investigate individual cases involving harassment, sexual harassment, and/or reprisals. The employer and the education provider are responsible for handling harassment cases following the University's "Guidelines for handling harassment cases following the Discrimination Act". Equal opportunities officers and/or working groups must refer to the head and the support available for employees and students.