Hello everyone, I'm Sarah Buxton, and I'm a director of Buxton Coats Solicitors and an
employment and HR solicitor.
Today we're going to talk about workplace bullying and harassment.
Bullying and harassment is anything in the workplace which undermines somebody.
It can be something like malicious rumours, picking on somebody,
unfair treatment, not allowing somebody to take part in training or promotion.
Bullying in itself is not something where you can make a claim to the Employment Tribunal for.
However, harassment is.
If harassment is connected to one of the nine protected characteristics,
you may find that you end up in the Employment tribunal having to defend your actions.
The 9 protected characteristics are sex, pregnancy, and on maternity.
Race Religion or belief.
Gender reassignment, sexual orientation.
Marital status or civil partnership status.
Age and disability.
So as an employer, what are your duties and what can you do to prevent bullying and
harassment in the workplace?
Firstly, we would always say, have a written policy.
This encourages conversations in the workplace about what people feel that harassment and
bullying is. It can help them know where to turn and what to
do if they feel as though they're being bullied or harassed.
Quite often it can be dealt with in the workplace by an informal procedure.
If the employee feels strong enough, they can turn around and say to the individual,
please don't do that, that's making me feel intimidated.
Quite often, the person who is doing the bullying or harassing may not realise and it
may just be that an apology will sort everything out.
If not, then as an employer, you may have to go down a formal route to resolve matters.
Ensuring that you have policy and open communication in the workplace about bullying
and harassment will help retain staff and also prevent an employment tribunal
claim. If you need any more information on how to deal
with bullying and and harassment in the workplace, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sarah. Buxton at Buxtoncoats.com.