How would you handle a harassment case in your workplace?

Did you know that according to ACAS, on average, it takes 9 days of management time to deal with a staff grievance complaint? That’s an average of £1,400 in management time alone, that’s without interruptions in work flow from the accused and the accuser.

Let‘s consider some ways that Harassed Helen might be being made to feel uncomfortable in the workplace.

Her full time colleagues may feel that she’s getting more favourable treatment, or Helen herself might feel that her full time colleagues are getting a better deal – it’s why legislation like the ‘flexible working regulations’ have been put in place, to form a platform of regulations to avoid those misunderstandings.

Of course, Harassed Helen might be experiencing other forms of harassment too – on the grounds of race, religious beliefs, and nationality. Maybe she has certain days off work for religious beliefs that aren’t in the Christian calendar and maybe she’s being made to feel awkward or difficult for taking those important days off?

Harassment can also cover gay and lesbian issues and more recently, gender reassignment, to protect people who want to change their sex, which will include topics that surround that, such as how their work colleagues view them and which wash facilities they use.

Disability of course is another instance where employers have to be seen to be protecting their staff. Not only in terms of accessibility in and around the workplace, but how other staff may treat someone with a disability.

There may also be instances where age discrimination comes into play as well.

So, given that there are so many forms of harassment potentially in the workplace, how do organisations protect themselves and their employees against these kinds of problems? This highlights just how wide an area the equal opportunities legislation has to cover and here are my top tips for employers;

  • In the first instance, create an environment for staff where they are very aware of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. This should be done formally through good quality and rigorously checked policies and procedures but also on the floor.
  • Your Harassment Policy & Procedure should set out a clear definition of harassment, i.e. An example of formal wording could be;

‘Conduct by any individual in the organisation based on or directed towards someone else which is unwanted and or offense to the recipient’

  • The policy should also be very clear about the steps that will be taken IF harassment does occur and a complaint is made. Everything from the meetings that will occur, to time lines in which action will be taken and what investigations will take place. There should be no surprises for staff about how a harassment case would be handled .
  • You might also like to develop a Code of Conduct among your staff. Something that says how we expect to behave in this organisation, something that sets out your values and the respect we have for one another when we go about our business.

The hidden costs of getting this procedure wrong are significant and it’s vital to understand this process.

If you would like help or advice with your HR policies and procedures,

Please contact Park City consulting - they will be able to help you with all your HR needs.

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Filed under: Recruitment

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