3. The law

[ch 3: pages 24]

While there is often an overlap between the types of behaviour associated with bullying and harassment, there is a difference in the way the law approaches the two categories.

Harassment is a specific form of discrimination which can give rise to a claim under the Equality Act 2010 (EA10). For harassment to be covered by the Act, it must be connected to a “protective characteristic”, that is: race; religion or belief (or lack of belief); sex; age; sexual orientation; disability; or gender reassignment.

There is no legislation specifically aimed at preventing bullying and the law does not expressly protect employees from bullying and harassment more generally. Instead, the main laws available to protect workers against workplace bullying and harassment include the following:

• health and safety laws;

• the employment contract, including the contractual right to work in a safe environment and the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence;

• unfair dismissal laws;

• the Equality Act 2010;

• laws protecting whistleblowers and workers engaged in lawful trade union activities;

• the law of negligence (the employer’s duty to take reasonable steps to protect workers from foreseeable psychiatric injury caused by bullying);

• the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (which provides a remedy against very serious harassment); and

• criminal law, including laws outlawing malicious electronic communications.