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Now In: Equal opportunities > Policies and monitoring
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What are the benefits to employers in adopting an equal opportunities policy?

How can an employer improve its equal opportunities record?

Is it lawful for an employer to dismiss a complaint of harassment or bullying from an employee who is thought to be "over-sensitive"?

Can employers be held liable for harassment that takes place during a work-related social event?

Is an employer liable for offensive and/or potentially discriminatory material or comments posted on its intranet bulletin board?

If a business client harasses an employee, is the employer liable?

An employer will be liable for acts of its agents, and could be liable to an employee for negligence if the employee suffered mental and/or physical injury because of harassment by a third party that the employer could reasonably have foreseen and prevented or reduced.

In addition, as of 6 April 2008, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 provides that an employer will be liable if an individual is harassed by a third party in the course of employment, in circumstances where the employer knows that the person has been subjected to harassment on at least two other occasions (whether by the same or a different third party), but has failed to take steps to prevent it. Arguably the harassment provisions in the other strands of discrimination law need to be amended to bring them into line with the third-party harassment provisions in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.

An organisation should make all its customers and clients aware that it is committed to equal opportunities, and take care to prevent its employees from being subjected to any kind of harassment by third parties.

The Equality Act 2010 will extend the protection against third-party harassment that currently applies only to sex-based harassment to the other protected characteristics.

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