Ombudsman of the INCD ECOIND

Attorney Cornelia Beatrice Gabriela DINU

Rules regarding the organization and functioning of the ECOIND organizational Ombudsman:

  • The organizational ombudsman within the National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology – ECOIND has the role of providing advice in conditions of independence, impartiality, and confidentiality to all ECOIND employees who consider themselves to be treated unfairly.
  • The organizational ombudsman facilitates communication between ECOIND employees in the event of conflicts in order to help them identify ways to resolve the problems themselves.
  • The organizational ombudsman promotes preliminary/proactive intervention in order to avoid negative consequences that may result from potential conflicts.
  • The organizational ombudsman is independent of the ECOIND structures in respect of which he/she carries out his/her activity.
  • The organizational ombudsman has access to all relevant sources of information he needs to carry out his activity.
  • ECOIND will provide the Organizational Ombudsman with an appropriate budget and resources to carry out the activity.
  • The organizational ombudsman must have thorough knowledge of the organization and functioning of the National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology – ECOIND
  • The organizational ombudsman will avoid affiliations that may affect his/her independence and impartiality. The organizational ombudsman is an external actor independent of top management or other structures of ECOIND.
  • The organizational ombudsman presents an annual report to the Board of Directors regarding the types of problems reported and the recommendations/ways to resolve them.
  • The organizational ombudsman complies with the principles of impartiality, independence and confidentiality.
  • The organizational ombudsman maintains the confidentiality of the information entrusted to him/her. The organizational ombudsman will not disclose the names of the persons who consult him/her except with their consent. The notes, records and resulting documents will be kept in secure conditions, only for the time necessary to resolve the respective case and then destroyed.
  • Any person in ECOIND can contact the Organizational Ombudsman. All interactions with the Organizational Ombudsman are voluntary. The Organizational Ombudsman can refer ex officio.
  • The organizational ombudsman will ensure that his mission and the ways to contact him are known to all ECOIND staff.

The organizational ombudsman has the following powers and competencies:

  • Receives requests made by persons who believe that their rights or freedoms have been violated and decides on how to resolve them.
  • Grant audiences
  • Has the right to conduct informal investigations to resolve requests submitted to him/her
  • Helps all parties involved in a conflict to identify possible solutions
  • Formulates recommendations for modifying and improving ECOIND internal regulations

How the Organizational Ombudsman helps:

  • Provides an independent, neutral and confidential setting in which you can express your thoughts and ask questions.
  • It represents a help for you regardless of position, location or hierarchical level.
  • It represents a guide when you need to understand the application or effects of regulations, procedures, internal rules. Explore the reasons that you identify as underlying your concerns as well as the formal or informal methods / modalities that you could use to resolve them.
  • Provide support to understand and apply internal rules, regulations and procedures
  • Provide support when you want to express your problems officially
  • It has the role of mediator in the event of any conflicts.
  • Present annual reports with statistical and anonymous data regarding the types of problems that have arisen and the ways to solve them.
  • Develops recommendations for improvement at the organizational level based on general trends observed and respecting confidentiality

What is not within the remit of the organizational Ombudsman

  • Does not make decisions, does not establish outcomes, and does not impose actions
  • Does not formally investigate or prepare official reports for cases brought to its attention
  • Does not keep permanent records of reported cases
  • Do not communicate data that may lead to the identification of the person who contacted you without their consent.

Zero retaliation policy

  • The organizational ombudsman represents an initiative within ECOIND, being an additional communication channel for all people working in the institute, regardless of their function or specific field of activity.
  • The organizational ombudsman acts and responds in a confidential, impartial, independent and informal manner. These four characteristics are used as guiding principles in his work.
  • The organizational ombudsman provides the necessary framework for addressing various topics, ranging from workplace debates to the exchange of ideas.
  • The organizational ombudsman’s role is to help ECOIND staff identify all alternatives and then make the best informed decisions.
  • The organizational ombudsman supports both top management and employees in identifying the appropriate channels to clarify the nature of their problems or to consider other additional aspects.
  • The organizational ombudsman cannot impose decisions, but whenever he/she requests information, it is mandatory for every manager or employee to give him full support.
  • ECOIND staff has the right to contact and use the services of the organizational Ombudsman and cannot be obstructed or sanctioned in any way for having contacted and/or benefited from the services offered by him/her.

Contact

E-mail: ombudsman@ecoind.ro

Bucharest, Sector 6, Podul Dâmboviței street, No. 57-73, Room P 02

Audience schedule on the first and third week of the month on Wednesdays from 10:00 to 12:00