Harassment at Work: UK’s Legal Solutions

Howes, VS

Abstract

One of the objectives of the European Community Strategy 2007-2012 on health and safety at work is working towards prevention of harassment at work, which suggests that harassment at work is a widespread problem. The UK current law presents a complicated and disparate picture, one that
is little help to victims of harassment. As a rule harassment should be related to a particular ground
of discrimination recognised by law. A victim who wishes to bring a claim for harassment at work should demonstrate that he or she has been harassed because of his/her, race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, or age. Often therefore victims tend to avoid legal action, worried that disclosure could lead to victimisation. When they do though, they are often in a weaker position than
their employer. In order to avoid bad publicity organisations tend ‘to believe’ harassers equipping
themselves with defences and qualified lawyers. It is ultimately for tribunals or courts to establish
whether particular conduct amounts to harassment and has a detrimental effect on the victim. Not surprising that in many cases courts decide in favour of organisations against employees. The objectives of the paper are as follows: •Consider the current UK legal provisions relating to harassment at work and particular problems in applying law into practice •Discuss strengths and weaknesses of the law
and its practical application.

Journal Article Type	Article
Deposit Date	May 6, 2011
Journal	The International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations
Print ISSN	1447-9532
Publisher	Common Ground Research Networks
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	9
Issue	3
Pages	129-138
Keywords	Harassment, law
Related Public URLs	http://ondiversity.com/journal/publications/

Harassment at Work: UK’s Legal Solutions

Howes, VS

Authors

Abstract

Citation

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