Workplace Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment: 4 Steps For Employers
Bullying, discrimination and harassment aren't issues that only affect large organisations. They can happen in any workplace, including small businesses where teams work closely together and relationships are often more personal.
When concerns do arise, the impact can spread quickly. It can affect morale, working relationships, productivity and, if the issue is not handled appropriately, expose the business to complaints or legal risk.
There is also an increasing focus on prevention, rather than simply responding once something has gone wrong. Under the Sex Discrimination Act, employers have a 'positive duty' to take reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent certain unlawful workplace conduct, including sexual harassment, sex-based harassment, sex discrimination, hostile workplace environments on the ground of sex, and related victimisation.
In practical terms, businesses need to be able to show that they are taking active steps to create a safe and respectful workplace. Having a policy is part of that, but it is only one part.
For business owners, the aim isn't to create layers of complicated HR processes. It is to have clear expectations, make sure people understand them, give employees a sensible way to raise concerns, and know what to do if a complaint is made.
Here are four practical steps every business should consider...
Step 1: Have a Workplace Clear Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment Policy
A good policy gives everyone in the business a clear understanding of the behaviour that is expected at work, as well as the behaviour that will not be accepted.
It should explain what workplace bullying, discrimination and harassment can look like in practice. This is important because inappropriate behaviour isn't always obvious.
Including practical examples, such as yelling at someone, deliberately excluding a colleague or making inappropriate jokes, can help employees understand where the boundaries sit.
Just as importantly, the policy should explain what someone can do if they have a concern. Who should they speak to? Is there another person they can approach if their manager is involved? What happens after a complaint is raised?
Employees are more likely to raise concerns appropriately when they understand the process and have confidence that the issue will be taken seriously.
Your policy should also set out the responsibilities of employees, managers and the business.
It shouldn't simply be a document that sits in a folder. It should provide a practical framework for how people are expected to behave and how concerns will be managed.
Policies should also be reviewed periodically so they remain appropriate for the business and reflect any changes in workplace requirements or practices.
Practical tip: Use examples your employees can relate to and make the reporting process straightforward. People shouldn't have to search through several pages of policy to work out who they can speak to.
Step 2: Train Your Team - Don’t Just Give Them the Policy
Having a policy is an important starting point, but asking employees to read it and sign an acknowledgement is not the same as making sure they understand it.
This is particularly relevant to an employer’s positive duty. The expectation isn't simply that a business responds appropriately when a complaint is made. Businesses need to take proactive steps to reduce the risk of certain unlawful conduct occurring in the first place.
Training is an important part of that.
Good training helps employees understand what bullying, discrimination and harassment can look like in a real workplace, where the boundaries sit, and what they should do if they experience or witness behaviour that concerns them.
This matters because workplace behaviour isn't always black and white. An employee may recognise obvious sexual harassment, for example, but be less certain about repeated inappropriate jokes, comments about someone’s appearance, exclusion, behaviour at a work function, or conduct occurring through text messages or social media.
Training gives you the opportunity to work through these situations before they become real problems. It also helps reinforce that respectful workplace behaviour is an ongoing expectation, rather than something employees only hear about when they start work or when an incident occurs.
Managers and Supervisors Need Additional Training
Managers have an especially important role because they are often the first person an employee approaches when something has happened.
They need to know how to respond appropriately when a concern is raised, what they should document, what they should keep confidential, and when they need to escalate the matter rather than trying to resolve it themselves.
One of the more common problems we see is not necessarily that a manager does the wrong thing intentionally, but that they simply don't know what to do. They may dismiss a concern as a personality clash, promise confidentiality they cannot realistically maintain, start asking questions that turn into an informal investigation, or wait too long before seeking advice. Practical training can help reduce that risk.
For managers and supervisors, training should cover recognising potential bullying, discrimination and harassment, responding appropriately when an employee raises a concern, maintaining appropriate confidentiality, documenting conversations, avoiding assumptions or premature conclusions, and understanding when an issue needs to be escalated.
For the broader team, the focus should be on expected standards of behaviour, examples of inappropriate conduct, how to raise concerns, where to find the policy and what employees can expect if they do speak up.
Training should also be refreshed from time to time rather than treated as a one-off exercise during induction. This is particularly worthwhile when new managers are appointed, policies change, the workforce grows or the business identifies recurring behavioural concerns.
Positive duty goes beyond training alone, so it is worth understanding the broader steps expected of employers. For more detail, read our article Positive Duty: What It Is and How It Impacts Your Business.
Practical tip: Keep the training practical. Realistic workplace scenarios and discussion are generally much more useful than reading legislation or working through slides full of definitions. The aim is for people to leave knowing what is expected of them and what to do when something does not feel right.
What About 'Reasonable Management Action'?
Managers still need to manage, so it's also important to understand that not every difficult conversation or management decision amounts to workplace bullying.
Giving an employee feedback, addressing poor performance or behaviour, setting reasonable workplace standards, starting a performance management process or taking disciplinary action can all be legitimate management actions.
The key is that the action itself must be reasonable and it must also be carried out in a reasonable manner. A manager shouldn't avoid a necessary performance conversation simply because an employee may find it uncomfortable, but how that conversation is handled matters.
This is another reason manager training is so important. Managers need to understand both sides of the line: what workplace bullying looks like, and how to confidently manage employees in a fair, professional and reasonable way.
For a more detailed explanation, read our article on: 'Why You Should Know What "Reasonable Management Action" Means'.
Step 3: Encourage Open Communication
One of the challenges with bullying, discrimination and harassment is that employees don't always raise concerns when they first arise.
They may be uncomfortable speaking to their manager, worried about how the complaint will be received, or unsure whether the behaviour is serious enough to report.
For a business owner, this doesn't necessarily mean introducing a complicated complaints system. What matters is that employees know where they can go and feel reasonably confident that raising a genuine concern will not make the situation worse.
Your policy should provide clear reporting options, and where possible, employees should have more than one person they can approach. Depending on the size and structure of the business, this might include their manager, another senior person or an external HR contact.
Regular check-ins and opportunities for employees to provide feedback can also help identify issues before they become formal complaints.
Of course, encouraging employees to speak up only works if the business follows through. If someone raises a concern and nothing happens, employees are unlikely to have confidence in the process the next time.
Practical tip: Make sure employees know who they can speak to and periodically remind them of the process. When concerns are raised, acknowledge them and explain what will happen next.
Step 4: Respond Promptly and Fairly When a Complaint Is Made
When an employee raises a complaint about bullying, discrimination or harassment, how the business responds matters.
The first step is usually to listen carefully and understand what the employee is actually raising. Avoid jumping immediately to conclusions about what happened or what the outcome should be.
The issue should be documented appropriately and the next steps considered based on the nature and seriousness of the allegations. Some concerns may be resolved relatively quickly, while others may require a more formal investigation.
Whatever process is used, fairness is important. The person raising the concern should have an opportunity to explain what occurred, but the person who is the subject of the complaint must also be given an appropriate opportunity to respond to the allegations.
Confidentiality should be maintained as far as reasonably possible, and the people involved should be kept informed about the process without being given information they are not entitled to receive.
It is also important not to leave complaints sitting unresolved for unnecessarily long periods. Delays can increase frustration, affect working relationships and make an already difficult situation harder to manage.
Practical tip: Start by listening and documenting the concern. Work out what process is appropriate before deciding the outcome, keep the matter as confidential as reasonably possible, and communicate with the people involved about what happens next.
A Respectful Workplace Starts With Clear Expectations
Most small business owners don't want complicated HR systems. They want a workplace where people understand what is expected of them, concerns are raised early and problems are dealt with properly when they occur.
A clear policy provides the framework.
Training helps people understand what that framework means in practice.
Open communication makes it easier to identify concerns.
A fair response process helps the business deal with issues appropriately when they arise.
Importantly, these steps also move the business beyond simply reacting to complaints. They help create a more preventative approach, which is increasingly important given employers’ positive duty obligations.
Those foundations can make a significant difference to the way workplace issues are prevented and handled, particularly when a difficult situation eventually does arise.
If you would like support reviewing or drafting your Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment Policy or providing practical training for your managers and employees, get in touch with HR Consulting Tas.
We provide practical workplace training designed around the situations managers and employees are likely to encounter in real workplaces.
Book a free discovery call today, and let’s take the HR off your plate so you can focus on growing your business.
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