What is harassment?

Unlike bullying, there is a legal definition of harassment in the Equality Act 2010. The Act defines harassment as: Unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual. The law on bullying and harassment is set out in Chapter 2.

The NEU explains that harassment can take many forms, including:

• the display or distribution of offensive material, graffiti or badges;

• non-verbal abuse such as offensive gestures and body language;

• inappropriate comments about someone’s appearance;

• intrusive questioning about someone’s private life;

• verbal abuse such as suggestive remarks, ‘jokes’ and name calling;

• physical contact such as unnecessary touching; and

• threatened or actual physical abuse or attack.

In extreme cases, it adds, such as stalking, assault, rape, incitement to racial hatred or homophobic hate crime, harassment may constitute a serious criminal offence (see Chapter 2).

Third party harassment

Workers can also suffer harassment from members of the public or customers with whom they are in contact in the course of their work. It is important that an employer’s harassment policy covers this situation, says Prospect (see Chapters 2 and 3).