Dealing with Sexual Harassment at Work

Sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal. If it happens to you you may have a personal grievance claim against your employer.

Illegal sexual harassment includes:

• Unwelcome or offensive language of a sexual nature (for example, jokes or bad language).
• Unwelcome or offensive visual material of a sexual nature (for example, posters, emails, or books).
• Unwelcome or offensive physical behaviour of a sexual nature. This does not just cover obviously offensive behaviour. We dealt with a case where a large older male employee repeatedly stood too close to young female employees. Because of way the conduct was repeated over a period of time, and the fact that it was only directed towards young female employees, this amounted to sexual harassment.
• A request for any kind of sexual contact, if it includes:

o A promise of preferential treatment in that employee's employment; or
o A threat of detrimental treatment in that employee's employment; or
o A threat about the present or future employment status of that employee.

Sometimes the harassment is so serious that the employee must leave the workplace almost immediately in order to be safe. Other times there is a lower level pattern of offensive behaviour. It doesn’t matter of the individual instances are serious or more minor; the fact is that employees have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to feel safe in the workplace. Any kind of harassment is unacceptable.

If the offensive behaviour comes from the employer, or someone in the workplace in a position of authority, you will usually have a personal grievance claim available to you straight away. If the actions come from another employee, a customer, or a client, usually you will have to make a complaint to the employer and give them a chance to deal with it. If they fail to deal with the issue then you may have a personal grievance complaint available to you against the employer.

If you are being harassed it is important to keep records of what is happening. Keep a note of the time and date and what happened. If you can get a copy of what was said or of any visual materials this will also be helpful.

If you have had a harassment complaint made against you, don’t panic. The complaint may be an innocent misunderstanding. In addition, the employer must treat you fairly in investigating the complaint and in any action that they take. We have had clients who have had complaints made against them (as well as clients who have been the victims of harassment). Sometimes the employer has failed to conduct a fair investigation and an accused employee is not fairly treated. If you are in this situation we can help.

For employers it is essential that you have policies both to prevent harassment from happening, and to ensure that you are promptly advised of any concerns. If you are advised of any concerns it is essential that you have robust policies in place to deal fairly with those concerns. You must be fair both to the person making the complaint and to the person against whom the complaint is made.

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns – and whether you are a victim of harassment, someone accused of harassment or the employer.