How employers can prevent sexual harassment in the workplace

Analysis: employers and organisations need to understand the detrimental effect on the life and health of the victim

A recent study by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre found that over 75% of the people surveyed have experienced sexual harassment and almost 60% of those reported sexual harassment in the workplace. Unfortunately, sexual harassment is still the unreported reality for many workers.

Sexual harassment in the workplace can be costly for employers, but financial compensation is not the only thing organisations should be worried about. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we no longer wish to merely be a cog in the working wheel. We do not hanker after that job-for-life that will guarantee us a pension that we may well end up spending on therapy, as we try to patch the wounds caused by not having had the courage to be brave enough to live out our wildest dreams.

The worm has turned, and it is now likely that employers must ply their wares to attract potential employees. The employer who can prove that they have taken complaints of sexual harassment in their workplace seriously has a greater chance of success in this regard.

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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Michelle Ní Longáin from the Law Society on a new report which found that 50% of women solicitors have experienced sexual harassment

Sexual harassment can happen to anyone. There is no one type of person who reports sexual harassment, but there are types of people who sexually harass. Employers need to understand the detrimental effect on the life and health of the person harassed. Here are six things all prudent employers should pay attention to

Duty of care

As an employer, the buck stops with you. You owe a duty of care to your employees, which includes protecting them from any harm which can be avoided, or by doing everything in your power to mitigate the damage that is caused by a harm which you could not prevent. It is not enough that you said it: you must be able to actually prove that you protected your employee. The likely consequence of being in breach of the duty of care you owe to your employee is that you will be found to have been negligent.

Vicarious liability

As an employer, you can be held liable without being at fault. You are liable for any employee with whom you are in an employer/employee relationship, who causes harm to a customer, client, fellow employee, or another person, whilst doing what it is you pay him/her to do. You are likely to be liable to pay compensation to a victim as the result of the actions of this rogue employee. This liability can attach to you even if you do all that you can to avoid it.

From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, former soldier Dr Tom Clonan whose doctoral thesis exposed the systematic nature of sexual harassment within the defence forces 20 years ago

Policy and procedures

You know those fancy policy documents that you paid a lawyer to draft for you? Well, they are not worth the paper they are written on if you do not review and update them on a regular basis. Policy documents only fulfil their purpose if you follow them.

You must communicate that document to all employees. You must also ensure that you conduct ongoing policy training of staff, and staff appraisals. You must follow your own complaints procedure to the letter. You do not get to pick and choose who you investigate. Investigate all complaints and employ external scrutineers if you must. Have the courage of your convictions. If a perpetrator must be transferred, transfer them; if they must be sacked, sack them. If the complaint is malicious, deal with that as you must too.

Safety, health and welfare

You are obliged by law to provide a working environment that ensures the safety, health, and welfare of persons at work. You need to be familiar with your responsibilities, and you need to remember that sexual harassment is a safety, health, and welfare issue.

From RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline, 16 year old Saoirse Roche talks about being sexually harassed during her summer job in a chip van in Cork.

Insurance

Your expensive insurance policy may not pay-out for injuries which are intentionally inflicted.

Stop being scared and start acting!

Stop being afraid of dealing head-on with a complaint or an alleged perpetrator. What have you got to fear? This is not about you. Rely upon your policy documents, put your money where your mouth is, and investigate it. This is the very least that you owe your employee who makes the complaint.

If you are too emotionally weak to deal with the perpetrator, you should be questioning your position as a manager. Further, if you fear that the perpetrator is holding something over you which he/she may reveal, then you need more help than I can give you.

Management is a lonely place to be, it is difficult to know who your true friends are, but do not get so divorced from reality that you do not know what is happening on the ground. Do not leave a complaint sitting on your desk, be the person who deals with it. You may be the only person who does. Be that person.

From RTÉ Archives, Alasdair Jackson reports for RTÉ News in 1990 on a Labour Court case taken by a woman for the sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of her boss

Foster healthy working environments where workers feel free to raise issues at an early stage before things escalate to damaging proportions. People make complaints of sexual harassment because it is unwanted and unwelcome behaviour to them. This is not about you. You do not get to judge what should or should not upset somebody else.

Treat every person equally, complainant and alleged perpetrator alike. Remember that not everyone who is harassed is brave enough to complain, have informal and mediation procedures in place to deal with this. Do not be afraid to punish a perpetrator or malicious complainant.

Remember that people who make complaints are routinely ostracised and subject to retaliation so protect those people. Do not be afraid to employ a person who has complained of sexual harassment in a previous job, they are likely to be the bravest person you will ever meet. The law is an ass, but you don't have to be one yourself.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ