- Person A engages in unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, and
- The conduct violates Person B’s dignity, or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for them.
Sexual
Harassment
Complaints of sexual harassment can lead to costly settlements, loss of senior staff, expensive litigation, reputational damage, and reduced productivity.
What Is Sexual Harassment?
Understanding behaviours that may constitute harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment occurs where:
How We Can Help
Avoid the cost and damage by seeking advice from our specialist employment solicitors as soon as an allegation arises.
It is possible armed with some initial strategic advice to save off a crippling claim. We are experts in helping our clients deal with sexual harassment allegations internally as part of a grievance process or through a tribunal claim efficiently and cost effectively.
We Have helped many employers over the last 11 years and use our wealth of experience and specialism to provide our clients with an edge. Our experience and focus in this area give our clients a clear advantage when these sensitive issues arise.
Effective Measures Employers Should Take
01
Conduct a full review to identify areas of risk within the business. Build a zero-tolerance culture where employees feel safe reporting inappropriate behaviour.
02
Creating a workplace culture of zero-tolerance to harassment and where all employees are encouraged to report inappropriate behaviour.
03
Having an effective anti-harassment policy that clearly sets out what conduct is unacceptable, the employer’s zero-tolerance approach to such conduct, how employees can report inappropriate conduct
04
Ensure all employees know how to report concerns and that managers respond quickly, effectively and in a sensitive way, so that the perpetrators are sanctioned, and those who report are protected.
05
Train all staff on anti-harassment practices from induction onwards, with specific training for managers in how to deal with complaints of harassment.
06
Having nominated employees to monitor harassment issues and offer support to victims of harassment
07
Communicate your zero-tolerance policy to harassment to suppliers, clients, and third parties, that it will take reports of harassment by third parties seriously
08
Make it clear to employees that harassment of all those they come into contact with at work will not be tolerated
09
Regularly review policies to ensure adequate protection and clear reporting channels for all workers.
10
Require board-level approval for any settlement agreements in sexual-harassment cases to ensure proper oversight.
Examples of Sexual Harassment
- A person imitates a sexual act at work that makes a colleague feel degraded.
- An employer asks one of her workers if the worker is having sex with his boyfriend, which intimidates and humiliates him.
- An employer displays a screensaver of a topless woman, which creates an offensive environment for other workers.
- A man overhears a female colleague being subjected to sexually abusive language and this causes him offence.
- A manager puts his hand up his assistant’s skirt during the office Christmas party.
- An employee has had a relationship with his boss. When the employee ends the relationship, his boss spreads rumours about his sexual preferences at work.
Examples of Conduct of a Sexual Nature
- Sexual jokes, comments or intrusive questions about someone's personal life.
- Displaying sexually graphic pictures, posters or photos.
- Suggestive looks, staring, or leering.
- Propositions and sexual advances
- Promises or threats in exchange for sexual favours.
- Sexual gestures.
- Intrusive questions about a person’s private or sex life and discussing your own sex life
- Sexually explicit messages or posts on social media.
- Spreading sexual rumours about a person.
- Sending sexually explicit emails or text messages.
- Unwelcome touching, hugging, massaging or kissing.
- Criminal behaviour, including sexual assault, stalking, indecent exposure and offensive communications.
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Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Taking proactive steps is essential for both legal protection and business integrity.
Taking appropriate steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace is important for all employers, from a business perspective as well as a legal one.
Complaints of sexual harassment can lead to costly settlements, high-profile departures of senior management, expensive litigation, loss of productivity, damage to reputation, an adverse effect on employee and customer relations and steep declines in share prices. For example, when Ted Baker announced in December 2018 that it would investigate claims of inappropriate behaviour by its CEO and founder, the price of shares in the company fell by more than 13%.
Recruitment and employee retention can also suffer. In November 2018, there was worldwide walkout at Google’s offices in response to the handling of senior departures following sexual misconduct allegations.
Sexual harassment issues can also have regulatory consequences for regulated employers.