Do you know someone work who won’t take no for an answer, and is making you feel like their behavious is plain harassment?

Even though it may seem harmless to the person making the remarks or advances, making a pass, jokes or comments about a person’s gender or appearance could be deemed offensive or be considered as bullying to the person on the receiving end.

We’ve probably all witnessed a colleague making a remark about someone else in the office that we thought was inappropriate, but whether sincere or not, a physical advance or a verbal comment, this sort of behaviour can create a negative environment and lead to claims for discrimination and unfair dismissal if the employee decides to resign as a result of the behaviour and/or the employer’s failure to prevent it.

Coming back from the festive period can be a troublesome time for those who feel they are sexually harassed in the workplace. Alcohol and informal get-togethers before the break can often lead to unacceptable behaviour from colleagues. And spending so much time with people can mean colleagues develop feelings for each other.

Sexual harrassment in the workplace

But what happens if someone makes an unwanted advance, and won’t take no for an answer?

I’ve already talked about the problems an office relationship can cause in my last blog post “Will you dodge the mistletoe this office party season?”, but what if the attention is not reciprocated? Or a colleague or a more senior member of the team puts you in an awkward and pressured situation through unwanted attention?

In the UK, the law protects individuals against harassment and discrimination, whether that is of a sexual nature, physical or verbal, no matter whether the meaning was intended or otherwise.

What to do about harrassment at work

This includes inappropriate posters displayed in the office, comments of a sexual nature and offensive emails. Companies should have policies for dealing with harassment and/or grievances in the workplace.  If you are worried about behaviour that you feel is inappropriate or is upsetting you then you can deal with it in two ways.

You may decide to try and deal with the matter on an informal basis e.g. by telling the person upsetting you to stop their behaviour or by having an informal chat with your manager.

However, if the harassment is serious or the informal route has not worked then you should raise a formal grievance to your manager in writing  (or someone more senior if the grievance is against your manager).

How harassment can be stopped in the workplace

Your employer should then invite you to a grievance meeting and investigate your complaints. During the investigation it may be appropriate for your employer to move the person harassing you to another department and tell them not to contact you.

Victims of sexual harassment should not be made to “put up and shut up”. It can be humiliating, intimidating, and offensive and make the workplace a hostile environment for the individual involved.

If the problem is still not addressed appropriately by your employer, employees could resign and claim unfair dismissal and discrimination and take the issue to an employment tribunal.

Individuals should record evidence of any incidents in a diary, including who was involved and seek advice from a solicitor. It is worth bearing in mind there are strict time limits for making a claim at an employment tribunal.

This is three months from the date of the last time you were discriminated against for discrimination claims and three months from the date of dismissal for unfair dismissal claims.

By Sarah Calderwood, employment specialist at solicitors’ firm Slater Heelis – www.slaterheelis.co.uk/employment