
Although freedom of expression is guaranteed under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it is not an absolute right. Under Article 20, “Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law”.
In the workplace, employers are legally responsible for acts of discrimination, harassment and victimisation carried out by their employees in the course of their employment unless it can be shown that all reasonable steps have been taken to prevent the offending acts. This legal responsibility is called “vicarious liability”. So what does this mean in practice for employers and to what extent are they responsible for the opinions and behaviour of their staff?- How to avoid discrimination claims
- Can illegal workers bring discrimination claims?
- Women still feel discriminated against in British workplaces
- Putting in place regularly updated written policies which prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace, both of work colleagues and third parties such as customers;
- Making sure that all new staff have read these policies as part of their induction;
- Providing training on a regular basis to refresh memories and make it clear what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour – this should happen at all levels of the organisation;
- Training line managers to identify and deal with unacceptable behaviour in their teams;
- Implementing a system for dealing with complaints, including advice on what employees should do if they feel they are suffering from discrimination or harassment;
- Providing employees who have been discriminated against or harassed with access to counselling services where appropriate; and
- Providing any employees who have harassed other staff members with information and training to ensure that it doesn’t happen again
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