Dealing With Allegations of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious matter which has been under the spotlight this past year following the global reaction to the #timesup and #metoo movements. It is widely thought that the recent media attention given to high-profile harassment cases will translate into an increase in sexual harassment claims before the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).  It is vital therefore that employers have policies in place to deal with allegations and incidences of sexual harassment.   What constitutes sexual harassment? Sexual harassment is defined at section 14A of the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 as: ‘any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, being conduct which… has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the person.’ How does sexual harassment manifest in the workplace? In addition to the more obvious manifestations of sexual harassment such as unwanted touching or catcalling, sexual harassment may also include sharing sexual words, images or other content. There need only be a single incident of the relevant conduct to fall within the definition. Preventing sexual harassment Employers should note that they will be vicariously liable for sexual harassment suffered by their employees during the course of their work. To successfully defend harassment claims by employees, you should have a policy in place for dealing with allegations of sexual harassment. This policy should be communicated to all employees. Your policy should set out what measures are being taken to prevent sexual harassment and what measures will be taken to reverse the effects of harassment should an allegation be made out. It is not sufficient to merely have a policy in place, employers should provide training to employees on what constitutes sexual harassment and make it very clear what will not be tolerated. Dealing with a claim of sexual harassment Should an allegation of sexual harassment be made in your workplace you should act within the timeframes set out in your policy. If the allegation develops into a claim before the WRC, it will be a defence for employers to show that they took such steps as were reasonably practicable to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace by having a policy in place and providing relevant training. Employers will further bolster their defence by showing that they took all reasonably practicable steps to reverse the effects of the harassment by carrying out an appropriate investigation, disciplining the perpetrator (where appropriate) and offering the victim support such as access to an employee assistance programme. As unprecedented media attention continues to focus on sexual harassment, employers should take this opportunity to review their policies to ensure they are up to date. For more information on how to prevent, or otherwise, deal with harassment in the workplace please do contact one of our advisers who are available 24 hours a day at 0818 923 923