HARASSMENT

A guide on harassment from the employment law experts

Marjon Law, specialist employment lawyers is owner-led by Marc Jones, who is ranked and recommended in legal publications as a leading employment law solicitor, with over 20 years of experience practising solely in employment law.

If you would like urgent advice on harassment, please contact us as soon as possible.

This web page should be read in conjunction with the web page DISCRIMINATION - PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS

What is harassment?

Harassment is prohibited under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 and occurs during the course of employment for a reason related to a protected characteristic and is unlawful if the conduct is unwanted and has the purpose or effect of:

violating an employee's dignity or
creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Such conduct will only amount to harassment if in all the circumstances, the perception of the conduct is reasonably considered to have that purpose or effect. A one-off act can amount to harassment.

The relevant protected characteristics are: age; disability; gender reassignment; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation. The exceptions are marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity.

Harassment due to sex can also be due to conduct that is of a sexual nature. This can include unwelcome sexual advances, touching, forms of sexual assault, sexual jokes, displaying pornographic photographs or drawings, or sending emails with material of a sexual nature.

Harassment is also prohibited under section 1 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Unlike under the Equality Act 2010, harassment:

does not have to be connected to a protected characteristic
must be part of a course of conduct (and not a one-off act)
only needs to cause alarm and distress
is established where the harasser knew or ought to have known (based on a reasonable person in possession of the same information) that the conduct amounted to harassment.

Liability for harassment

An employer will be vicariously liable for the acts of its employees and workers.

However, under the Equality Act 2010, an employer will have a defence against harassment if it can show it took reasonably practical steps to prevent it from happening.

There is no defence for an employer under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

What remedies are available for harassment?

If an employee believes that an employer (or other person) has harassed them they can bring an employment tribunal claim under the Equality Act 2010 or a civil claim under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

Employment tribunals can award unlimited compensation, which can include an award for injury to feeling and financial loss because of the discrimination.

Civil courts can award damages for anxiety and financial loss because of the harassment.

How long do you have to bring an employment tribunal claim?

An employment tribunal claim for harassment must be received by a tribunal within 3 months of the complaining act (ie 3 months less 1 day). This can be the last act in a series of detrimental acts over a period of time.

The time limit can be extended during Acas early conciliation, which must be started before the time limit has expired.

The time limit is a strict one and will only be extended in certain circumstances.

In the civil courts, a claim must be lodged in the county court or High Court within 6 years of last date of the course of conduct compared to 3 years under common law for a personal injury claim.

Costs

Costs do not generally follow the event in employment tribunals ie the loser does not pay the winner's legal costs.

In the civil courts, costs do follow the event, which is a major consideration in deciding the forum to bring a claim for harassment.

The material contained in this web page is provided for general purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice. Appropriate legal advice should be sought for specific circumstances and before action is taken.

Why choose Marjon Law for harassment advice?

We have been involved directly and indirectly with hundreds of employment tribunal claims for clients for over 20 years, many of which involved harassment.

As specialist employment lawyers, our clients' interests are paramount to us.

We ensure that all our clients receive the best advice possible.

We will advise on harassment at work and any subsequent employment tribunal claim.