Author: Priya Cunningham at Thompsons Solicitors (see website)
Continued from part 1
Harassment occurs where a person engages in unwanted conduct, related to the relevant protected characteristic (See Part 1), where the conduct has the purpose of violating the person’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the employee.
It is important to keep in mind that for a claim in the Employment Tribunal, the legal definition of harassment must be met. It is not enough to say to an Employment Tribunal that you were harassed because of the protected characteristic; it must be conduct related to the characteristic.
Victimisation occurs when an employer treats an employee less favourably because they have raised a complaint that amounts to a protected act, or supported someone who has complained of a protected act. A protected act is a claim or complaint of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. If you are sacked, or treated badly, after making a complaint of discrimination then you can bring a victimisation claim in the Employment Tribunal.
Employees are also protected from victimisation if they support someone else who has made a complaint against the employer by giving a statement that would help their workmate’s case, or by giving evidence for them at an Employment Tribunal.
As with harassment, it is important to keep in mind that the legal definition of victimisation is what the Employment Tribunal will consider for a claim and not the dictionary definition of victimisation.
If you have any concerns about discrimination, you should contact your trade union or ACAS for advice. The Employment Tribunal operates strict time limits and claims for discrimination must be conciliated through ACAS within 3 months, minus a day, of the date on which the incident that you are complaining of occurs. A claim cannot be pursued in the Employment Tribunal unless it has been conciliation through ACAS first.