How do you know when office banter becomes sexual harassment? Employers need to ensure they do not end up in a tribunal hearing when an employee has stepped over the mark and they have failed to deal with the situation appropriately.
There has been a large amount of interest surrounding Sky Sports presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys when they made derogatory comments about a female referee and her ability to do her job, thinking their microphones were switched off. The pair were suspended and then further allegations of sexist behaviour resulted in Gray being sacked and Keys resigning.
This sort of behaviour is unacceptable in the workplace. Employers need to ensure they know what is legally required of them if inappropriate behaviour is brought to their attention, rather than have a knee-jerk reaction by sacking employees on the grounds of sexual harassment.
A recent employment tribunal hearing awarded £35,000 to a senior sales woman on the grounds of sexual harassment. Casual sexual remarks and the dominating male culture in her workplace were key contributing factors to the substantial award.
Andrea O’Hare, Head of Personnel and Employment Law at Citation says: “Employers must take this issue seriously and communicate to employees how they should behave with one another and document this, preferably in an employee handbook. Employers need to be sure to investigate any such complaints relating to sexual comments or inappropriate behaviour. They must also follow the necessary procedures if they choose to terminate employment based on grounds of sexual harassment. If they fail to do this, they could end up in an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. The key is to take advice to avoid a situation like this.”
These cases reinforce the fact that employers need to understand how to handle situations like these appropriately; otherwise they run the risk of hefty awards and vast amounts of negative publicity for the business.
Citation’s Employment Law Helpline provides clients with 24/7 advice on any issues relating to sexual allegations and how to deal with them. If you are worried that your business is not properly conforming to current employment law, then a Citation employment law Consultant can help.
Operating throughout the UK since 1995, Citation provides professional advice and compliance packages to business clients. Independently endorsed at the highest level its market leading services provide guaranteed protection in the high risk areas of employment law and health & safety regulations.
For more information about Citation and the services it provides, visit the Citation website at http://www.citation.co.uk/employmentlaw or call 0845 844 1111.
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