Age discrimination

Harassment - Age Discrimination Regulations

Legal advice on age discrimination - Harassment:
Here we discuss the situation involving "harassment" at work and the impact of the new age discrimination legislation.
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Harassment

Harassment includes behaviour that is offensive, frightening or in any way distressing. It may be intentional bullying which is obvious or violent, but is can also be unintentional, subtle and insidious. It may involve nicknames, teasing, name calling or other behaviour which is not with malicious intent but which is upsetting. It may be about the individual's age or it may be about the age of those with whom the individual associates. It may not be targeted at an individual but consist of general culture which, for instance, appears to tolerate the telling of ageist jokes.

Employers may be held responsible for the actions of its employees – as well as the employees being individually responsible. If harassment takes place in the workplace or at a time and place associated with the workplace, for example a work-related social gathering, the employer may be liable. The Employer may be ordered to pay compensation unless it can be shown that they took reasonable steps to prevent harassment. Individuals who harass may also be ordered to pay compensation.

It is good practice to protect workers from harassment by third parties, such as service users and customers.

When an employer is investigating claims of harassment, they should consider all the circumstances before reaching a conclusion. Harassment is often subjective so thought must be given to the complainant's perception of what has happened to them. One must ask oneself if what has taken place could ‘be reasonably considered to have caused offence'.

Here are a couple of examples to illustrate the point:

Example: A young employee is continually told he is ‘wet behind the ears' and ‘straight out of the pram' which he finds humiliating and distressing. This is harassment.

Example: An employee has a father working in the same workplace. People in the workplace often tell jokes about ‘old fogies' and tease the employee about teaching ‘old dogs new tricks'. This may be harassment on the grounds of age, even though it is not the victim's own age that is subject of the teasing.

Read about:

• Direct Discrimination
• Indirect Discrimination

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