Other laws to combat harassment in the workplace
[ch 7: page 218]These include:
• statutory and common law duties 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 (see Chapter 3);
• the common law of negligence leading to reasonably foreseeable personal injury;
• the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (only suitable for very serious cases);
• criminal law, including laws outlawing malicious communications;
• unfair dismissal laws (see Chapter 10);
• anti-blacklisting laws (see Chapter 5);
• laws protecting whistleblowers and workers engaged in lawful trade union activities.