UK Employment Law\ Employee \ Harrassment At Work
Workplace harassment
As an employee, you can sometimes find yourself working alongside people who you normally would not get on well with. There is a saying often used in such circumstances: ‘I don’t have to like you, I just have to get on with you.’ In these occasions, it is a good idea for you to nurture a professional working arrangement and environment. However, sometimes, you may find you are being subjected to harassment and/or bullying.
Sometimes, one employee can find another’s actions or attitude offensive or unwelcome. This can be a difficult situation if it is your boss who is harassing or bullying you.
Harassment can be defined as anything which happens on an unsolicited basis or that offends on a personal level (failure to respect someone’s rights). Addressing such issues can boost morale and improve output.
Among the most difficult examples of the above is sexual or racial harassment. These can be defined as a lack of respect or behaviour focussed on gender or race that causes upset.
Other examples centre around how people with disabilities or members of minorities are treated by colleagues.
You may find that the level of harassment and/or bullying at work may make your situation untenable. It is advisable to get help from a union or solicitor on these occasions.
Examples:
- spreading malicious rumours, or insulting someone;
- ridiculing someone, picking on them or setting them up to fail;
- excluding someone or victimising them;
- unfair treatment;
- misuse of power or position;
- unwelcome sexual advances;
- threatening job security without foundation;
- preventing individuals from making career progression by blocking promotion or training.
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
(1) A person must not pursue a course of conduct—
(a) which amounts to harassment of another, and
(b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is in question ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to a course of conduct if the person who pursued it shows—
(a) that it was pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime,
(b) that it was pursued under any enactment or rule of law or to comply with any condition or requirement imposed by any person under any enactment, or
(c) that in the particular circumstances the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable.
Cyber-bullying
This is a term often heard used in relation school children. However, it can happen in the workplace too. People can be bullied by receiving emails or text messages that intimidate them.
Employers should be alert to any such situations and make sure employees are aware of the standards of conduct that are acceptable and unacceptable.
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