Half female workforce claim harassment

Friday 02 February 2018

A survey carried out in 2015 found 48% of professional women in Guernsey felt they had experienced some form of harassment in the workplace.

Whilst this figure may seem high, a specialist in the area thinks the actual figure may be even higher, as small communities like Guernsey "have a culture of not wanting to make a fuss" and "keeping quiet".

Rachel Richardson, Senior Employment Counsel at Ogier, was speaking at a seminar on Equality and Sex Discrimination in the Workplace, which focussed on what employees need to know post-Weinstein in relation to sex discrimination and harassment.

More than 60 people attended from a diverse spectrum of businesses, which Ms Richardson said: "is encouraging to see so many employers here and taking the issue seriously."

"The most important thing an employer can do to protect both the company and the employee is to take complaints seriously, whether they are made formally or informally.  Complaints should be investigated robustly by way of a fair, proper and appropriate investigation that neither undermines the complainant nor scapegoats the subject of the complaint."

Pictured: Rachel Richardson

Under Guernsey law, Ms Richardson says an employee can make a claim against both the individual who they say has harassed them and their employer, whether or not the employer was aware of the alleged harassment. Furthermore she adds, the usual qualifying period of one years' service before an employee can bring a claim does not apply in cases of sex harassment.

Ms Richardson said: "Employers have a responsibility to educate their staff and create a culture where any form of harassment is not tolerated and is taken seriously. Male dominated industries or businesses where a culture for sexual banter is accepted are most at risk. Women may have felt a certain pressure to 'brush off' or join in with inappropriate banter in the past, however whilst defendants saying 'she joined in the banter,' or 'it was said as a joke,' is taken into account; lack of intent is not a defence."

Since 2005 when the Guernsey law came into effect there have been fewer than 20 claims, and only a handful of those cases were won so there is a lack of case law to draw from. Ms Richardson said there are a number of reasons for this: "In the UK where anonymity is easier and individuals can move work locations with relative ease there are lots more cases brought to court, however in Guernsey many women feel there would be a stigma in coming forward and many incidents go unreported. The other reason for the low number is companies dealing with the issue internally, either with professional HR teams putting steps in place to deal with complaints or internal financial settlements." 

Pictured: file image of pit girls at the Valencia Moto GP

Commenting on recent stories to ban 'pit girls' and 'walk-on' girls, Ms Richardson said: "If women want to accept a job that is based on what they wear whether it is a super model or a pit girl then they should be allowed to do that. The issue is about crossing the line and ensuring that the girls receive no unwanted physical attention, anything that would make them feel uncomfortable."

Ms Richardson also talked about local companies ensuring they had adequate IT policies in place: "It is important to remember that harassment is unwanted attention of a sexual nature and this includes words; such as e-mails, social media or electronic internal communication tools, employees need to protect themselves by educate their staff as to appropriate and non-appropriate content in addition to having IT codes of conduct."

Ms Richardson said: "Guernsey is a great place to live and work we are at the cutting edge of many things it would be such a shame if we failed employees in such a basic area."