How should I respond to an allegation of bullying or harassment in my UK business? – Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment

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As an employer, you may have to deal with difficult situations. One such situation that can arise is when an employee raises an allegation of workplace bullying or harassment. If attempts to informally resolve the issue fail, your employee can file a formal workplace bullying or harassment complaint. They can even take legal action, ie go to a labor court. Therefore, it is essential that you know how you should respond to allegations of bullying or harassment. This article explains how you should respond to an allegation of bullying or harassment in your business.

What is bullying and harassment?

When one person does something that makes another feel offended or intimidated, it is bullying and harassment. This can include behavior:

offensive; humiliating; physically or emotionally harmful; or intimidating.

Bullying and harassment does not have to happen face-to-face, but can happen in written form, for example through a letter or email. It can also happen over the phone.

The following are examples of workplace behaviors that could be workplace bullying or harassment:

mistreating someone; spreading malicious rumours; constantly belittling or picking on someone; and prevent someone from taking advantage of a promotion or training.

While bullying is not against the law, harassment in certain circumstances is. This is the main difference between bullying and harassment.

Harassment is an illegal form of bullying if it is related to any of the following:

race; disability; age; sex; sexual orientation; religion or belief; maternity or pregnancy problems; civil partnership and marriage; or sex change. What is your responsibility?

Employers have a responsibility to end bullying and harassment in the workplace. There is a legal responsibility to do everything you reasonably can to prevent it. You also have a duty of care towards your employees to ensure their well-being.

Although the person who bullies and harasses is the person responsible, you can also be held responsible. As third parties, employers can be legally responsible for the actions of their staff.

What to do if an employee raises an allegation of bullying or harassment

If you are faced with an allegation of workplace bullying or harassment, you should take it seriously. There are legal options an employee can take regarding the allegation, so taking it seriously can potentially prevent the situation from escalating.

Your first response should be to check your workplace’s policies and procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying or harassment. It is also important that you handle any allegation with sensitivity and fairness. This relates to the employee making the allegation, the accused person and anyone else involved.

Talk to the employee making the allegation

First, it is essential to meet with the employee making the allegation and discuss the following points:

what exactly happened; who is involved; what kind of response they want to see; what kind of support they may need, such as staff support networks or external organizations such as charities; and the assurance that the complaint is confidential.

You should try to keep an open mind during this conversation. You should also be aware of any sensitive issues surrounding the allegation and keep an eye on their mental well-being after they raise the allegation.

Take action

During your conversation with your employee, you will have discussed the course of action they might wish to take. There are many ways to respond to an allegation of bullying or harassment. For example, talking to the accused person, monitoring the issue, or going to mediation are all options. It is also possible to process it through formal channels.

It is essential that you try to take the actions that your employee wants to take. However, if you can’t agree, it’s up to you how to move forward. For example, you may decide that the allegation is too serious not to address it formally. However, when your employee chooses to take formal action, regardless of your view, you must do so.

Informal action

An employer should try to deal with an allegation of bullying or harassment informally whenever possible. You may need to investigate the complaint further before deciding what action to take. In this case, you will need to:

decide who is best placed to do this, for example a neutral person; gather evidence; and keep track of all actions taken. and your finds

When deciding which informal action is most appropriate, you may need to check that the employee who made the allegation agrees with you. You can decide on more than one course of action, such as:

mentoring; coaching; a meeting with all those involved; talk one-on-one with the people involved; or mediation.

You can also decide that no action is necessary. If so, be sure to record it in writing with your reasons.

formal action

When you or your employee decide that formal action is necessary, you should follow the relevant formal procedure in place within your company. Alternatively, you should follow a formal grievance procedure if you do not have a specific procedure in place for allegations of bullying and harassment. In this framework, you must take into account two initial points.

Who will investigate the complaint?

Ideally, this should again be a neutral person. If your business is too small to allow this, make sure the interviewer keeps an open mind and acts fairly. Another option is to pay someone outside the company to investigate. the dispute

Do you need to separate employees?

This may be necessary to protect employees. Any separation should be done fairly and any consideration of suspension should be done with great care.

If the result of your formal procedure is to take disciplinary action against an employee, then you must follow a formal disciplinary procedure.

After responding to an allegation of bullying or harassment

Once you’ve responded to the allegation, it’s best to do the following:

keep a clear record of what you did, the evidence gathered and your final actions; update the employee who made the allegation; keep an eye on the problem; and continue to try to prevent bullying and harassment. This may include new procedures in place as specific responses to an allegation. Key points to remember

As an employer faced with an allegation of bullying or harassment, you are ultimately responsible for the behavior. As such, it is essential that you deal immediately, seriously and fairly with the dispute. After discussing the allegation with your employee, you have the option of responding to it informally or through a formal process. Either procedure will involve gathering evidence and deciding on a final course of action. Likewise, it is important that you keep a concise written record of how you responded to the allegation. You should also consider other procedures to put in place in response to the allegation, to prevent bullying or harassment in the future.

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