Dignity at work

It’s a heading that is used to capture policy and training that relates to ensuring everyone in the workplace is treated with dignity and respect. It links to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies, and helps ensure that all behaviours and activities in the workplace avoid discrimination, bullying, and harassment.

Not worrying about it creates a serious risk – to your people and to your business.

Firstly, it’s the law. The Equality Act 2010 enshrines that all employees have the right not to be discriminated against, and not to be harassed in the workplace on the basis of a protected characteristic, or membership of a protected group. New legislation coming in October 2024 means employers will have to proactively manage this or face significant financial penalties, and more legislation is expected with the new Government.

Secondly, and no less importantly, it's the right thing to do. A safe and respectful workplace will help to attract and retain talented employees, help them feel more engaged, and therefore productive, during their employment, and foster an environment where everyone can thrive.

The overarching piece of legislation that sets out the protected characteristics and the rights of employees to be treated equally and equitably.

These 9 characteristics are set out in the Equality Act 2010. Employers must ensure that employees are not treated less favourably due to their protected characteristic, or membership of a protected group.

Race

Age

Sex

Sexual Orientation

Disability

Religion or belief

Transgender

Marriage/Civil partnership

Pregnancy and maternity

The Worker Protection (Amendment to Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force on October 26 2024, placing an additional duty on employers to proactively take steps to prevent sexual harassment. This is in addition to the existing duties to protect employees from all types of discrimination and harassment.

Harassment and bullying are often confused. Bullying behaviour can be harassment if it meets the definition below:

Harassment is unwanted conduct, related to a protected characteristic, that has either:

violated the person's dignity

created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the person

It can be harassment if the behaviour:

has one of these effects even if it was not intended

intended to have one of these effects even if it did not have that effect

Sexual harassment is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment can happen to men, women and people of any gender identity or sexual orientation. It can be carried out by anyone of the same sex, a different sex or anyone of any gender identity.

Sexual harassment is different to harassment arising from a protected characteristic, such as sex or sexual orientation. Someone could experience both types of harassment at the same time, or separately.

An individual who thinks they've been sexually harassed does not need to show it was because of their sex or sexual orientation.

Employers must do all they reasonably can to protect staff from sexual harassment and take steps to prevent it happening.

Each company will need to review and update their practices and policies. Reality HR have produced a checklist to help you consider the elements you may need to work on. Fill in the form below to download the checklist.

Individuals who harass someone at work are responsible for their own behaviour, but the company can be held responsible too - this is called vicarious liability.

Employers can be held responsible if the harassment or discrimination happens "in the course of employment", which covers actions taken at work, as well as outside of the workplace, but linked to work, such as at a works party or on social media that is linked to work.

You should take any complaint of harassment very seriously and look into it as soon as possible. You must follow a full and fair procedure when investigating, and take appropriate action based on your findings. You must be fair and sensitive to the individual raising the concern, any witnesses and anyone accused of bullying or harassment.

Reality HR run engaging and memorable workshop-style sessions which create a safe space for learning and discussion. Real-life case studies are used to explore the types of behaviours that are deemed acceptable or unacceptable in your workplace.

Sessions are tailored to your organisational context and will include reference to your bespoke policies and processes.

We strongly believe that Trainer-led sessions are more engaging and memorable than e-learning, and our sessions can be delivered face to face or virtually over Teams/Zoom.

Everyone! Every employee and manager will need to learn about the types of behaviour that are or are not acceptable in your workplace, and to understand how to spot and call out discrimination, bullying and harassment. Managers will also need to understand what actions they can take to ensure Dignity at Work for their teams, and how to effectively tackle issues when they arise. We offer workshops for your staff and your managers, designed to suit your organisational context and culture.

We offer a short "top up" session on sexual harassment where a full and robust Dignity at Work training has been carried out recently. This session will focus specifically on the new duties placed on employers by the Worker Protection Act (Amendment to Equality Act 2010) Act 2023.

If your managers and/or employees have not had recent Dignity at Work training then we suggest that our full Dignity at Work training is more appropriate. We recommend that training is repeated for all at least annually, if you are to demonstrate you are proactively managing behaviours in your workplace.

The basic content of the two sessions is the same, however, managers have additional responsibilities in relation to Dignity at Work, and their session will guide them through:

The organisation's plan for preventing harassment

How to recognise behaviours that could give cause for concern

How to take early remedial action to resolve potential complaints informally

How to take action if a complaint is raised formally