Maintaining a harassment-free workplace.

One of your staff members, named Sandra, tells you she is uncomfortable with the behaviour of some of her male colleagues. During work hours they look up "cyberporn" on the Internet and comment on it whenever she enters the room. On one occasion, they pointed to a picture on the computer screen and asked Sandra if she looked as good in black lace underwear. Sandra wants your assistance but does not want to make a formal complaint because she believes it will damage her career. You want to resolve this situation but don't know how to do so without revealing Sandra's identity. What do you do?

Unfortunately, this is a common problem with no easy solution. You need to balance Sandra's rights and concerns about her career against your legal duty to create and maintain a harassment-free workplace.

Provide Counselling

Your first step in this type of situation is to counsel Sandra about the importance of making a formal complaint. Such a complaint would enable you to fully investigate all of the circumstances surrounding the situation and to educate and discipline the offending employees.

Explain that while you can not guarantee anonymity, you will do your best to maintain confidentiality. This means that only individuals who need to know about the complaint, such as the alleged harassers and any witnesses, will be told about it.

Assure Sandra that as long as her complaint is in good faith, you will protect her from reprisals. But you must follow through on this commitment. Too often, employers go through the motions of creating harassment policies but when someone complains they ignore it, or worse, punish the complainant. Occasionally, the employer goes so far as to fire the complainant. This only exacerbates the problem and can actually cause a reluctant complainant to seek legal action against the employer.

Investigate the Complaint

Even if Sandra is not willing to come forward formally, you may be able to address the matter without her involvement by keeping a close eye on Internet use and staff relations.

If Sandra does make a complaint, investigate the incident immediately. The longer you wait, the more it appears that you are condoning the behaviour. A delay could also create an opportunity for further incidences to occur or important evidence to be lost.

There are several steps to take when investigating Sandra's complaint: