FEATURE
“PUT YOUR
COMPLAINT IN WRITING.”
must put your complaint in writing and issue this as a formal grievance, this way your employer is forced to investigate and respond to you. Any good and reputable employer should do this confidentially and take it seriously, so the issues can be addressed. Unfortunately, this is not always the case so you may need to appeal, seek legal advice and persevere for a response. Any meetings relating to the issue should be minuted, but it is useful to take notes yourself as well. Taking colleague or union representative to any grievance meetings will provide support and will help you to not feel bullied or pressured in any way.
If you don’t feel like your place of work is doing enough or you have spoken to your superiors with no results, there are other options available. You can report this to ACAS, who will talk to your employer on your behalf; make a claim to the Employment Tribunal who will hear your case and act
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upon it (however, we usually strongly suggest a formal grievance and lawyers letter before this). If someone has caused you such trepidation that you feel sick or scared, you can seek a medical certificate to sign off work during the grievance.
Being afraid of losing your career/ job is entirely normal and you may feel reluctant to act because of this. However, the vast majority of cases do not reach a courtroom and are settled anonymously, allowing you to stay out of the spotlight of future employers. You should not be placed in an environment that is dangerous, scary and/or upsetting. If your employer does not take action then a lawyer’s role is to help you seek compensation so you can move on and find a new job or new department, unless we have been able to remove the person causing the harm or address the issues for you.
Whilst we talk about the ‘workplace’ an employer is vicariously liable
for the actions of their employees, meaning they can be held responsible for any harassment from one member of staff to another. Even if it’s at a social occasion or in the staff car park or otherwise. Failing to address any concerns of your employees could lead to serious repercussions regardless of where this happened.
Although most reported cases involve men harassing women it is not exclusive and the reverse is also possible, as well as same- sex harassment. The TUC report specified that in one out of 10 cases the perpetrator was a woman, which demonstrates that sexual harassment can happen to anyone at any time. If you see someone being sexually harassed, make it your responsibility to intervene/report. The simple act of supporting the targeted individual may, in turn, help others in the same situation.
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