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Having a policy of no sexual harassment not enough…

In a case where the employee brought a personal grievance for constructive dismissal the Employment Relations Authority has held that the employer breached its duties to the employee despite have a policy against sexual harassment…

The ERA held that the employer had:

  1. No material outlining what could amount to sexual harassment;
  2. No induction process that covered the sexual harassment policy;
  3. No other educational process regarding sexual harassment; and
  4. No regular reminders of the policy.

In this case the breach did not cause the employee’s resignation as she failed to alert the employer to the harassment prior to her resignation.  The employer had no opportunity to investigate and take steps to prevent any reoccurrence.

Having a policy is not enough.  It has to be clear, educative, brought to the employee’s attention and reinforced on a regular basis.

If you need help with working up a policy, or the process to reinforce it, please give me a call on (04) 473 6850.