Drawing the line

Sexual harassment: telltale signs of its existence at your workplace and how to deal with it

Dirty words are never ones that you would want to put on the meeting's agenda. Yet sexual harassment at the workplace is commonplace and can even constitute criminal conduct.

Would you consider comments on dress or appearance to be sexual harassment? If they are unwanted, they are a form of harassment, and should be stopped.

Harassment affects a company in terms of high staff turnover, reduced productivity, lower staff morale, absenteeism, sickness, and safety risks. As an employer, it is your duty to try to prevent it, and deal with it correctly if and when it does happen.

The aim is to achieve a work environment free from unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of employees and free from victimisation of a complainant or of a person wishing to give, or giving, evidence in the event of a complaint.

As an employer, it is your duty to ensure that cases reporting sexual harassment are dealt with the necessary sensitivity, confidentiality and due respect for the rights of both the complainant and the alleged harasser, both before and during any actual disciplinary/criminal proceedings. The procedure should give employees confidence that the organisation takes allegations of sexual harassment seriously.

Telltale signs

Tell-tale signs of harassment that affect the person being harassed are anxiety, tension, withdrawal, irritability, depression, deterioration of personal relationships, lack of concentration, insomnia, tiredness, headaches, other stress-related symptoms.

An absence of complaints about sexual harassment in an organisation does not mean it isn't happening. Employees subject to sexual harassment may be reluctant to complain, they may think there is no point in complaining because nothing will be done about it, or fear it will be trivialised, they will be subjected to ridicule, or because they fear reprisals.

Carrying out these recommendations should create a climate at work in which such concerns have no place.

A definition

Harassment is defined through the eyes of the person claiming harassment. After he or she has made it clear that he or she finds certain behaviour to be offensive and unacceptable, then its continuation constitutes harassment. This is true even if other persons would not see the same behaviour as offensive.

In terms of Section 9 of the Equality for Men and Women Act, it is a criminal offence for any person to sexually harass other persons.

Sexual harassment means unwarranted, unreasonable or offensive acts, requests and conduct of a sexual nature, and refers also to subordinates, colleagues and superiors. Sexual harassment is also prohibited in terms of Article 29 (2) of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.

Research indicates that 30-50 per cent of female employees and 10 per cent of male employees in European Union member states have experienced sexual harassment.

Forms of sexual harassment

¤ Unwelcome physical contact (ranging from touching and patting to sexual assault and rape)

¤ Demands for sexual favours

¤ Propositions or pressure for sexual activities

¤ Suggestive remarks, innuendos, or lewd comments

¤ Display of offensive pictures, posters or written material

¤ Unwanted comments on dress or appearance

¤ Offensive conduct such as derogatory abuse and insults which are gender-related.

Prevention better than cure

Employers owe a duty of care to take reasonable steps to protect an employee from further harassment once it has been brought to the employer's attention.

Since sexual harassment is a form of employee misconduct, employers have a responsibility to deal with it as they do with any other form of employee misconduct as well as to refrain from harassing employees themselves.

Because sexual harassment is a risk to health and safety, employers have a responsibility to take steps to minimise the risk as they do with other hazards. Given that sexual harassment often entails an abuse of power, employers may have a responsibility for the misuse of the authority they delegate.

Employers are liable for any harassment carried out by employees and they are responsible for acts of harassment by third parties towards their employees.

Policy statement

A first line of action is to draw up a clear policy statement that relates the seriousness of harassment and warning of disciplinary action for breaking the policy. Unacceptable conduct should be outlined and managers and supervisors given directions to strictly enforce the policy.

The policy will state that no employee will be victimised for bringing a complaint of harassment; it will give a clear definition of what harassment is; offer a code of practice aimed at prevention; outline clear guidelines as to what procedures should be followed by victims of harassment; and give a clear indication of action to be taken against an employee found guilty of harassment.

Communicating the policy

An employer should take steps to make sure that the policy will work efficiently. Suggestions on how to achieve this include

¤ adopting a system for monitoring incidents of harassment in the work environment and taking action if any incidents occur;

¤ providing training for managers and supervisors about how to respond appropriately to incidents of harassment;

¤ providing confidential counselling by appropriate trained counsellors for employees who experience harassment.

An important means of ensuring that sexual harassment does not occur and that, if it does occur, the problem is resolved efficiently, is through the provision of training for managers and supervisors.

Such training should aim to identify the factors which contribute to a working environment free of sexual harassment and to familiarise participants with their responsibilities under the employer's policy and any problems they are likely to encounter. Those playing an official role in any formal complaints procedure in respect of sexual harassment should receive specialist training.

Procedures to be followed

Your prime objective should be to change behaviour and attitudes, and to ensure the prevention of sexual harassment. Policies and procedures should be adopted after consultation with trade unions or employee representatives.

An employee who believes that he or she has a sexual harassment complaint is encouraged to make a direct request to the harasser that the offensive behaviour or actions cease. He or she should let the offender(s) know that the behaviour was uncalled for and unwelcome.

During this confrontation the harassed person should ask that the behaviour stop, either verbally, in writing, or by someone acting on his or her behalf such as a staff representative, and a note taken of the event. If the harassed person feels that they cannot take this step, then he or she should talk to a supervisor/manager or a personnel officer who can attempt to solve the situation for him or her.

In the event that the matter continues to be unresolved, a formal complaint should be reported to the line manager, although if the alleged harasser happens to be the line manager then the complaint should be directed to the personnel manager. The complaint should contain a brief of what type of harassment he or she was subjected to and that specifies what part of the harassment policy was broken.

Details of the complaint should include a record of the date of incident, time, place, name of the harasser, what happened, how the person being harassed felt at the time, name of any witnesses, what was done afterwards by the person harassed, and whether the incident was reported to management. The onus is then on the company to properly investigate the complaint.

Complaints procedure

Where the complainant regards attempts at informal resolution as inappropriate, where informal attempts at resolution have been refused, or where the outcome has been unsatisfactory, a formal procedure for resolving the complaint is then provided.

By its nature sexual harassment may make the normal channels of complaint difficult to use. Therefore, a formal procedure should specify to whom the employee should bring a complaint, and it should also provide an alternative if in the particular circumstances the normal grievance procedure may not be suitable, for example because the alleged harasser is the employee's line manager.

It is also advisable to make provision for employees to bring a complaint in the first instance to someone of their own sex, should they so choose.

It is good practice for employers to monitor and review complaints of sexual harassment and how they have been resolved, so as to ensure that their procedures are working effectively.

Investigations

Internal investigations of complaints must be handled with sensitivity and due respect for the rights of both the complainant and the alleged harasser. The investigation should be independent and objective. Those carrying out the investigation should not be connected with the allegation in any way, and every effort should be made to resolve complaints speedily.

The alleged harasser has a right to be given full details of the nature of the complaint and the opportunity to respond. Strict confidentiality is to be maintained throughout any investigation. Where it is necessary to interview witnesses, the importance of confidentiality should be emphasised.

A complainant should not be required repeatedly to recount the events complained of. The investigation should focus on the facts of the complaint and it is advisable for the employer to keep a complete record of all meetings and investigations.

CSB Recruitment Agency has been supporting the local business community with its services since 1987. For further information you can write to CSB at Vincenti Buildings, 14/19 Strait Street, Valletta VLT 08, call 2122-5800 or 2124-6543, fax: 2123-0520, e-mail: jobs@vacancycentre. com, or visit www.VacancyCentre.com

Copyright 2004, Commercial Services Bureau (CSB) Ltd.