Bullying and harassment: UK employment law

Essential points

• Bullying and harassment cover a wide range of actions, for example, picking on someone, spreading malicious rumours about them verbally or on social media, denying them training opportunities or otherwise treating them unfairly at work can all amount to bullying and/or harassment.
• While there is no specific law against bullying, harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 if it is related to age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief.
• Harassment is also unlawful under the Prevention from Harassment Act 1997 if there has been a course of conduct (ie at least two incidences of harassment) and employers can be vicariously liable where such harassment takes place in the course of employment.
• In both cases, employers can be liable for any harassment their employees suffer at work from their colleagues, and the perpetrator can also be personally liable.
• Employers have a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees and workers in the course of their employment. This is a continual and anticipatory duty which requires employers to act before sexual harassment happens. 
  • While employers are not currently liable for sexual harassment committed by third parties, this duty means an employer might be guilty of subjecting an employee to sexual harassment, if they are aware that an employee is being sexually harassed by a third party but they do nothing to protect the employee. This might also be direct discrimination (if the employer protects certain groups but not others), indirect discrimination (if the policy of doing nothing particularly disadvantages women), or grounds for an employee to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal. 
  • Employers can potentially defend claims under this duty if they can show they have taken 'reasonable steps' to prevent the harassment. The 'reasonable steps' defence will be thoroughly interrogated by tribunals and courts. Further possible preventative procedures are explored below.