Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment

A 2019 CIPD survey found that 15% of employees had experienced bullying, 4% sexual harassment, and 8% other forms of harassment in the last three years.

Employers have a duty of care to ensure this doesn’t happen in their workplace, but what can you actually do to prevent it?

Ensure you have a policy covering equal opportunities, bullying, discrimination and harassment.

Whilst you may already have a standard grievance policy in place, it is worth having a document that specifically lays out the company’s policy on bullying, discrimination and harassment at work and what happens if there is a breach of policy.

The document may include:

• Definitions of discrimination, bullying and harassment (including sexual, racial and disability related discrimination or harassment)
• Details of performance and absence management procedures laying out how these will be carried out in non-discriminatory way.
• Procedures for making complaints of bullying, discrimination and harassment.
• Where to seek advice or support

Be clear where you stand on ‘banter’

Whilst legally and morally, the rules around equal opportunities, bullying, harassment and discrimination are universal to all businesses, it is also apparent that there can be a grey area around what is known as ‘banter’.

Banter can be a tricky topic. What someone considers a light-hearted joke amongst friends, may be considered discriminatory and offensive to someone else.  In some environments, banter can be a useful way for teams to bond and let off steam during stressful periods – but it’s important to remember that this is never an excuse for bullying or harassment.

It’s also important to recognise that accusations of bullying and harassment may come as a result of a build-up of comments and behaviour, that are initially dismissed as banter.  Built up over time, however, it becomes intolerable.  Being alert to what’s happening and keeping eye on banter can prevent it ever getting this far.

In addition to your policy, consider introducing a code of conduct that lays out in simple terms what is and isn’t acceptable in relation to banter and joking amongst colleagues. Recognise that all individuals will have a different tolerance level to what they consider banter and develop it with the team so that they all buy in to it.  Get your team to sign up to the code and display it prominently to remind everyone what is and isn’t acceptable.

Train it, live it and make it visible!

It’s no use having an Equality Opportunities, Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment policy on paper, if it’s not implemented every day, by everyone.

Train it

Make training on the policy part of your induction or onboarding process, and by training we mean more than just asking them to read it.

Often the underlying root of bullying, and certainly, discrimination is difference.  As an employer you could be held responsible for things that your employee says that may cause offence.  As a preventative measure, we advise all employees undergo training so they are aware of what is and is not acceptable and that they can be held more accountable for their actions.

We run a half day course on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion which could be included as part of your induction programme.

Once trained, ask your employees to sign to say they’ve understood the information they’ve learned.

Live it

As employers and managers, you should be leading by example and demonstrating how you expect the team to behave.  Not only this but you should be proactive in dealing with issues.  Be alert to any signs of potential discrimination, bullying and harassment amongst the team as soon as you notice them – do not wait around for someone to report a problem or make a grievance.   We understand it can be difficult to know what’s going on within your team at all times, especially if you have remote workers – however it’s really important to keep lines of communication open and be genuine in asking after your team’s welfare.

You may be able to nip problems in the bud with an informal conversation before something escalates.

Make it visible

Place reminders around the workplace about your agreed code of conduct.  Remind people what is and isn’t acceptable and it will be much harder for people to go wrong – no excuses!

Deal with it effectively and consistently

If you follow the above points, you’ll have good foundations for reducing bullying, discrimination and harassment at work, however it is unfortunately impossible to eliminate it entirely.  Therefore, you need to be ready to act when a policy breach occurs.  You should already have your disciplinary and grievance processes laid out in your policy and this should include appropriate investigations and documentation of any information gathered and actions taken.

It is important that processes are followed promptly and any disciplinary actions applied consistently (for example treating senior managers the same as lower level employees), to avoid any further discrimination accusations at this stage.

Remember, whilst you can never control everything your employees do and say, as an employer you need to be able to demonstrate that you have done everything reasonably possible to ensure bullying, harassment and discrimination does not happen in your workplace.

Would you like help drafting and implementing policies relating to equal opportunities, discrimination, bullying and harassment?

Do you need support dealing with a grievance related to equal opportunities, bullying, discrimination or harassment?

We can help – we can provide HR advice on a pay as you go basis for ad-hoc assistance, through to fully retained packages for ongoing support.