#HarassedAtWork began trending on twitter after a report was published stating that two thirds of women have experienced sexual harassment at work.
Here we look at what people are saying, and what employers should do about sexual harassment in the workplace.
Twitter users shared their experiences of sexual harassmentThe survey, taken by TUC and the Everyday Sexism project on 1,500 British women, found that a third have been the subject of 'unwelcome jokes', while one in four have received sex-related comments about their clothing or bodies.
It's not just women who face harassment at workA quarter say they have been inappropriately touched and one in eight say someone at work has made an attempt to kiss them.
Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism project, said employers need to take 'urgent action' to tackle the problem.
What may be meant as a joke or 'banter' can actually be undermining or even scaryFrances O'Grady, TUC general secretary, added: "Employers must be clear they have a zero tolerance attitude to sexual harassment and treat any complaint seriously.
"It's a scandal that so few women feel their bosses are dealing with the issue properly."
Some employers do not know how to deal with harassment reportsHow exactly should employers be handling sexual harassment claims in the workplace?
Bullying and harassment in the workplace is covered by the Equality Act 2010. The first thing employers should do to tackle this problem is ensure that every single person in the organisation has read and understood this Act.
The simplest, quickest and most cost-effective way of doing this is with our WorkRite e-learning course 'Equality & Diversity'.
See the Equality & Diversity course here >>
You can request a free trial and then roll this course out to any number of employees, from one to thousands. All of our engaging, interactive courses even come with a management system so you can track who has completed the courses, set automatic reminders and generate reports for your records.
This will teach users:
- why diversity and equality are important
- what is in the Act
- how to recognise discrimination in all its forms
- what responsibilities employers have
This will be followed by an interactive test users must pass to prove they have understood the information.
