Sexual harassment at work: your options and the employer's duties
The law treats harassment at work as the employer's problem as well as the harasser's. A workplace is required to have a policy and a person responsible for complaints, and failing to handle a complaint properly is itself a breach. Knowing that changes what you are asking for and who you are asking.
What is covered, and by whom
The law covers a range of conduct including unwanted advances, repeated references of a sexual nature after you made clear they were unwelcome, and conduct that exploits a relationship of authority, where consent cannot be assumed in the same way. It applies to colleagues, managers, clients and contractors within the work context, not only to people on the same payroll. Conduct outside working hours can still be within the work context if the relationship is.
Document privately and precisely
Keep a dated record of each incident with what was said or done, who was present, and how you responded, and store it somewhere personal rather than on a work system. Preserve messages exactly as they arrived rather than describing them later. If you told the person to stop, note when and how, because that moment often matters. You do not need to decide the outcome before you start recording.
Raising it, and what the employer must do
A complaint can go to the person designated in the workplace, and the employer is then required to investigate and to protect you from retaliation for complaining. Put it in writing, keep a copy, and note the date. If the response is inadequate, or if retaliation follows, that is a separate and serious matter with its own routes, including the labour courts. External complaint routes exist and do not require you to exhaust the internal one first.
FAQ
- Do I have to complain internally first?
- No. Internal complaint is one route and often a fast one, but external routes exist independently and you can take advice before choosing.
- It was a client, not an employee.
- The work context is what matters rather than the payroll. An employer's duty to provide a safe working environment does not stop at people it employs.
- I am afraid of losing my job.
- Retaliation for complaining is treated as a distinct wrong. Document the sequence carefully, because the timing between the complaint and any change in treatment is exactly what gets examined.
- It happened a while ago. Is it too late?
- Not necessarily, and different routes carry different time limits. Start with the record you can still assemble rather than assuming the door is closed.