Cases of harassment, in particular sexual harassment, continue to populate media headlines and be significant issues in the workplace. According to a survey by The Barrister Group, 29% of workers have experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour, and almost half (48%) of them did not report the matter.

It's now even more important for this to be high on employers' agenda because the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 has recently been approved by both the House of Commons and the Lords. Once it receives Royal Assent, it will become law, and will place a legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment.

When you think about harassment, you might consider that it is just related to spoken words or physical actions - but harassment can occur in a wide range of situations. It is also important to remember that anyone can be a victim of harassment.

What constitutes harassment?

Harassment is a term that employees may use to describe behaviour without realising that there is a specific legal definition as to what amounts to harassment under the Equality Act 2010.

Harassment is behaviour and/or unwanted conduct and it must relate to someone's disability, race, religion, pregnancy/maternity, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, or marriage/civil partnership. These are 'protected characteristics.'

The employee who alleges that they have been subjected to the unwanted conduct, however, does not necessarily have to possess that protected characteristic themselves, but the unwanted conduct must still relate to it.

The unwanted conduct, related to a protected characteristic, must also have the purpose or effect of violating their dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Sexual harassment is where there is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. It doesn't matter if the behaviour was not intended to have that effect, if it does then that could amount to harassment.

Any allegation of harassment must be taken seriously, and practice owners have a duty of care to protect employees including third-party harassment experienced by self-employed clinicians or patients.

Failure to meet this duty can lead to a serious employment contract breach, a claim of harassment and constructive dismissal. Consequently, not taking action can have wider implications and can lead to poor performance, absence and even resignation.

Tackling harassment in the dental practice

Employers should require employees to undertake training on what harassment is and how it can happen, even when someone doesn't mean it. Employees should be clear that all forms of harassment are not acceptable, and action will be taken if it is found that someone has been subjected to harassment; they should know that it is so serious that they are risking their job if they subject someone to harassment.

Practice owners should prevent sexual harassment and treat any allegations seriously, fairly, and sensitively. Some complaints can be dealt with on an informal basis where the alleged perpetrator is notified that the behaviour is unacceptable. However, staff who think they have been subject to harassment should be made aware of the practice grievance policy. This will let them decide if they want to pursue a formal complaint or if they want it dealt with informally.

There should also be clear and simple mechanisms in place to report alleged harassment that are open to all to use; for example, by someone who has seen alleged harassment occurring and employees who allege that they have been harassed themselves.

Reports of harassment should be taken seriously no matter who the alleged harasser is, and the employee making the allegation should not be subject to a detriment. A meeting should then be swiftly arranged where more details of the allegation can be gathered.

It may also be appropriate to offering counselling for the effected employee. This can be a confidential, yet informal, way to discuss the situation. Professional counselling services should be available through the employee's GP, or from the NHS Occupational Health Team if it is available to the practice.

It is key that nothing should go unaddressed. If the behaviour is not appropriate, it should not be allowed in the workplace. A culture of respect and professionalism should be communicated from the outset and followed at every organisational level from the top-down.

Harassment should be grounds to terminate the employment of an employee or a self-employed clinician. If the individual is a patient, then you should consider explaining that they cannot return to the practice due to the irrevocable breakdown in the patient-practice relationship.

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An edited version of this article first appeared in Dentistry magazine.