A Bad Business - Part D: Conclusion

A Bad Business
(Review of sexual harassment in employment complaints 2002)

Part D: Conclusion

Complaints of sexual harassment are a significant issue for women in the workplace, with the overwhelming majority of complaints of sexual harassment coming from women. In addition to the personal impact of such harassment, there is also a significant impact on these women’s employment, with at least three out of four complainants no longer actively working for the organisation where the alleged harassment occurred by the time they report the harassment to HREOC. [75] These women have been dismissed, made redundant, resigned, or are off work on unpaid leave, sick leave or workers’ compensation.

Sexual harassment reported to HREOC is significantly gendered; the complaints that HREOC receives indicate that sexual harassment by men of women is occurring throughout Australian workplaces. This harassment typically involves significant power differentials, with harassment committed by individuals who are older and hold more senior positions within an organisation. The harassment begins relatively soon after employment commences, involves multiple forms of harassing behaviour, and typically occurs on multiple occasions. The harassment often starts as verbal harassment and then proceeds to physical harassment.

Those who reported sexual harassment worked across the range of occupations but were concentrated in a small number of occupations, reflecting the gender segregation in the Australian workforce.

The data show that harassment remains an issue for small, medium and large business in city, rural and remote rural areas. Many workplaces either do not have a sexual harassment policy or have not implemented their policy, leaving themselves open to vicarious liability for the harassment. In addition, it is evident that businesses bear significant costs due to staff turnover in the event of harassment. This is despite the fact that the majority of sexual harassment complaints had been reported to a senior person within the workplace. Reasons for proceeding with a complaint to HREOC included dissatisfaction with the internal process for handling the complaint, or that the workplace had ignored the complaint.

These findings have clear implications for workplaces. They imply significant staff turnover costs for employers as a result of sexual harassment, in addition to possible negative impacts on productivity and workplace culture. The data indicate that there is more that employers could do to prevent sexual harassment and to address it where it does occur. For example, this could include:

development and implementation of a sexual harassment policy, particularly by small business;
review of the adequacy of internal mechanisms for handling sexual harassment complaints;
ensuring internal complaints processes meet the expectations of staff;
better training for managers and supervisors so that they are prepared and able to handle complaints of sexual harassment;
greater use of training in response to complaints of sexual harassment, particularly as a means of preventing reoccurrences of this behaviour; and
inclusion of information about harassment in orientation for new staff.

That said, it should be remembered that many of the cases reviewed in this paper are likely to be the most difficult for employers to resolve internally.

Unions and employer groups could usefully develop targeted information for those industries and occupations with a high incidence of reported harassment.

These findings reinforce the need for HREOC to continue to undertake public education and research on the issue of sexual harassment.What the data presented in this paper do not show is who is being harassed but not reporting it to HREOC. This will include harassment that is resolved between individuals and within organisations, as well as harassment that is continuing unchecked and unreported. In order to obtain this information, HREOC has commissioned a telephone survey of the general incidence of sexual harassment in Australia. This will provide a more complete picture on the harassment that is occurring in the Australian workplaces, and the extent to which this is reflected in complaints to HREOC.