Harrassment of employees - Discrimination at work

All employers must ensure that managers and staff have been given awareness training in the field of harassment and Discrimination. A recent survey from the Institute of Management found that almost half of all middle manager had been bullied in the last three years.

On 1 October 2005 legalisation defined sexual harassment for the first time. The new legislation prohibits both "sex-based" and "sexual" harassment. "sex-based" harassment could include comments such as "all women are..." or "all men are..."; "sexual" harassment means unwanted physical, verbal or other conduct which is sexual in nature, that has the purpose or effect of violating a complainant's dignity or creating an environment that is intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive.

Harassment is behaviour which is unwelcome. unreciprocated and offensive to the recipient. What matters is how it feels to the individual. It is no excuse to say "but I only meant it as a joke". Unwanted behaviour is never a joke or harmless fun.

Employers should note that the courts take a strict view of their responsibilities to protect employees from manager's behaviour. Where an employee can show they have been harassed or bullied at work and there is some link between that harassment and the work environment the employer is likely to be liable.

It includes comments, action, jokes, or suggestions which might create a stressful working environment. It is intimidating, very unpleasant and often threatening. Such behaviour can be persistent, or can take the form of an isolated incident towards one, or more, individuals. It can be physical contact, verbal or non-verbal (e.g. printed material). If allowed to persist it can affect an individual's health, confidence, morale and performance and can result in them leaving their job. Such consequences have a business impact in terms of lost productivity and the need to replace staff who have left.

Although most cases of harassment are sexual or racial, it can also happen for other reasons such as age, religious beliefs or political opinions or without any identifiable reason - for instance when someone just takes a personal dislike to an individual. Included in the definition is behaviour known as "corporate bullying" where a person (usually someone in authority) abuses their position by adopting an intimidating management style.

People with disabilities also often suffer from harassment, particularly through unpleasant derogatory remarks.
Whatever form it takes harassment is contrary to the Company's employment policy and will be regarded as a disciplinary offence which could lead to dismissal. This policy should cover the following areas:

Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, or other conduct of a sexual nature, which result in the individual feeling threatened or compromised.
It is by no means restricted to attempts to initiate sexual relations. It is any harassing conduct based on the gender of the recipient.
There are usually three kinds of sexual harassment: Non-verbal, Verbal and Physical.

Racial Harassment

Racial harassment involves derogatory remarks, racially explicit statements, graffiti, jokes, or any action of a racist nature which is directed at an individual or Company from a different ethnic background and which results in the individual's) feeling threatened or compromised.

Nearly all ethnic groups suffer from harassment, often stemming from stereotyped and incorrect assumptions about people who might seem different. Racial harassment can be Non-verbal, Verbal or Physical.

Bullying

Bullying is the persistent demeaning and downgrading of employees through vicious words and cruel unseen acts which gradually undermine their confidence and self-esteem.

The Company recognises its staff as a great asset. Consequently an overaggressive or intimidating management style is inappropriate and can lead to claims of bullying.

Bullying can take three forms:
Management bullying of more junior staff
Staff attempting to coerce or intimidate their supervisors or managers
Staff intimidating colleagues.

It is the effect of the behaviour on the individual which determines whether bullying is occurring or not. If the individual finds the behaviour threatening or aggressive and feels undermined and anxious as a result, the individual is a victim of bullying.

Victimisation

Victimisation is where a person is treated less favourably than another because he/she has brought proceedings, given evidence, or complained about the behaviour of someone who has been harassing or discriminating against them.

For example:

A male manager makes sexual advances to his female secretary and pesters her to have dinner with him. If the secretary does not welcome or reciprocate his behaviour, it is sexual harassment. The secretary tells him to stop behaving in this way. The manager then feels humiliated, embarrassed and would rather that the secretary moved jobs. So he makes life difficult for her, gets over-critical of her work, expects a higher work output than is possible, gives her an unsatisfactory performance report. This is victimisation.

Examples of harassment include:

Non-verbal

Gesture
Staring/leering
Pin-ups
Offensive publications
Offensive letters/memos
Unsolicited and unwanted gifts
Offensive publications - Offensive letters/memos - Racist graffiti
Undermining status and credibility e.g. by changing work objectives without consultation
Refusal to communicate with the individual other than in writing - Threatening behaviour.

Verbal

Language of a suggestive or explicit nature
Unwanted propositions
Jokes of a sexual or explicit nature
Use of "affectionate names"
Questions or comments of a personal nature
Racist comments/abuse
Racist "jokes"/ridicule
Derogatory "nicknames"
Verbal threats
Criticising the individual to others
Offensive "nicknames".

Physical

Deliberate body contact
Indecent exposure
Groping/fondling
Physical intimidation
Ostracism
Excessive Supervision.

Procedure for Dealing with Allegations of Harassment or Victimisation

Managers should be aware of the different forms harassment can take so that they can recognise harassment taking place in its early stages and stop it from escalating into a serious situation.

Behaviour to recognise includes introvertisrn/ withdrawing into oneself, absenteeism, loss of confidence/ humour/ enthusiasm and/or reduction in work output.

Managers should try to create an environment in which individuals feel able to bring forward any difficulties without fear of reprisals or ridicule, offer support and guidance and assure confidentiality.

Complaints of harassment, wherever possible, should be dealt with informally but this does not mean they should not be taken seriously. An individual must be reassured that they have a right to complain and to be made aware of their options to pursue such a complaint.

For more information see Equal Opportunities Commission link indexed opposite.