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Complaints of harassment can be very
disruptive to the work place and must be
dealt with very carefully. If an
employee complains of harassment,
consider whether an informal approach to
the harasser would be appropriate, i.e.
if it is. A less serious complaint or
the first instance of harassment,
Consider whether the person complaining
of harassment wants an informal approach
or would rather more formal action be
taken.
If an informal warning is appropriate,
the alleged harasser should be consulted
to explain that the conduct is upsetting
the employee, and that it is considered
harassment and must not continue. He or
she should also be warned that the
matter will be kept under review, He or
she must be shown the policy which is in
place and warned that if matters do not
improve disciplinary action will be
taken. The person who has complained of
harassment should be kept informed of
the warning given and told to inform the
employer if he or she has any further
complaints against the alleged harasser.
Where an informal approach is
inappropriate or if the complainant
wants formal action taken, the
disciplinary procedure should be
followed in the following way:
- Ask the complainant for a full
statement.
- Suspend the alleged harasser
pending the investigation of the
complaint (if appropriate).
- Take statements from all staff
who can provide evidence about the
alleged harassment.
- Interview the alleged harasser
and invite him or her to provide a
statement. A disciplinary hearing to
give the alleged harasser the
opportunity to answer the complaint
or justify or excuse his or her
conduct will be necessary if there
is substance to or doubt in relation
to the matters complained of.
- Very often there will be no
witnesses and it win be one word
against the other, leaving it to the
employer to decide which version to
believe.
If the conclusion is that harassment has
taken place consider a penalty. In
serious cases the likely outcome will be
dismissal although, in some
circumstances, it may be appropriate to
transfer the harasser, with a harassment
of a less serious nature, a final
written warning will be appropriate.
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The Interactive
Law Group