Sexual Harassment

“Most men would welcome some, most women don’t want any”, an observation that I heard during a break when running a training course on sexual harassment.

Whether it is true or not is for you to decide. What is true is that more victims of harassment are women, and most perpetrators are men.

Some of these men do it quite deliberately; dismissal or legal action is all that is likely to stop them.

Some men do it by accident. If, in the workplace, a man tells a dirty joke to four female colleagues and three laugh but one does not and is obviously embarrassed, should he carry on with similar jokes? It may be very amusing to those who have a similar sense of humour, but is clearly upsetting the other woman. Many blokes would carry on – “if she doesn’t find my sense of humour funny, that’s her problem”. Such a man may well find himself in a witness box, having to defend a claim of sexual harassment. Let me tell you, a dirty joke told in an employment tribunal never sounds remotely funny.

Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a personal nature or other conduct based on sex, affecting the dignity of women and men at work.

Crucially, it is for the victim of the behaviour (normally a woman) to decide whether her dignity is affected.

What does this mean in the real world?

If you are a woman and there are sexual overtones in the way you are being treated which you do not like, object to it straight away. If it continues, use your employer’s formal grievance procedure to complain. Keep a diary of what is happening to you, and tell colleagues that you are doing this.

If complaining is not an option for you, because of the seniority of the guilty man, or simply because you don’t feel brave enough, write to the managing director or owner of the business. If he is the guilty party, get some legal advice!

Your prime objective should be to get the treatment stopped and the perpetrator dealt with, so making sure your employer knows what is happening to you is really important. Do not regard harassment as a money-making opportunity unless your employer fails to deal with your complaints properly. Harassment claims are stressful.

If you are a man, and your “laddish” behaviour is clearly not funny to even one female colleague, my advice is “stop”. If you can’t stop, stop when she is around, and do not treat her badly in other ways. If you ask a female colleague to go out with you and she refuses, do not ask again. Never touch female colleagues – arms around shoulders, stroking of hands and heads can get you into serious trouble.

Employers must treat all complaints of sexual harassment seriously, even if it involves a senior male employee. Not all sexual harassment justifies the sacking of the guilty party, but quite a lot does. Remember that there is no limit on what an employment tribunal can award the victim of sexual harassment, and in serious cases £20,000 can be awarded for injury to feelings alone.

The best way of avoiding a claim against your company is to deal properly with a complaint as soon as you know about it.

Published 27/09/2006.