Other laws relevant to a claim for workplace harassment
[ch 6: page 179]Other laws to combat harassment in the workplace include:
• the duty to take reasonable care to protect workers’ health, safety and welfare and to provide a workplace free from the risk of harassment;
• the employment contract, including the contractual right to work in a safe environment and the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence;
• the common law of negligence leading to reasonably foreseeable personal injury;
• the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (only suitable for very serious cases of harassment);
• criminal law, including laws outlawing malicious communications;
• unfair dismissal laws;
• anti-blacklisting laws;
• laws protecting whistleblowers and workers engaged in lawful trade union activities.