Shrugging off sexual
harassment as 'a bit
of banter' isn’t the
right thing to do -
especially if it
happens at work.
Despite strict laws
prohibiting sexual
harassment in any
avenue of life, more than half of women have
reportedly been sexually harassed in the
workplace.
Research by the Trades Union Congress and the
Everyday Sexism Project (2016) revealed that
more than half of women, and nearly two-thirds
of those aged 18-24 years old, said they have
experienced sexual harassment at work.
According to Citizens Advice, harassment is
unwanted behaviour which you find offensive or
which creates an intimidating, hostile or
degrading environment.
Emma Wilkinson, Citizens Advice employment
expert, explains her five steps on what to do if
you've been sexually harassed at work.
1. Tell someone
You could tell your manager, or someone in your
HR department. Your employer is required by
law to protect you from harassment. If it is your
manager who is harassing you, you can tell a
more senior staff member. Put what you say in
writing and keep a copy.
2. Keep a diary
Keep a record of what happened to you that you
can use as evidence, including copies of texts,
emails and social media posts. Note the time,
date and location of any incidents, what was
said or done, who was involved, if there were
any witnesses and evidence of any similar
incidents involving other colleagues.
3. Seek advice
Consider what outcome you want and get
advice about your legal rights. Your local
Citizens Advice can help and there’s some great
information available online. Check
www.citizensadvice.org.uk to find out how to
contact your local service and for online
information. You might want to consider
contacting a lawyer directly.
4. Raise a grievance
If you aren’t satisfied with the action your
employer has taken after you’ve raised the
problem informally, you may want to escalate it
to a more senior staff member, make a formal
written complaint or use your organisation’s
formal grievance procedure, it they have one.
You can get guidance about this from the Acas
Helpline on 0300 123 1100.
5. Consider an employment tribunal
If you can't solve your problem using a formal
grievance procedure, you may want to make a
claim to an employment tribunal. There are fees
for this but if you’re on a low income you may
be able to get these reduced by up to 100 per
cent. There are also strict time limits - you've
got three months less one day from the date
when you were harassed to take action. You
can get advice on taking a claim to tribunal, or
taking other legal action, from Citizens Advice.