People and workplace policies · 03
Harassment and sexual harassment policy
Prohibits harassment in all its forms and sets out how a complaint is handled.
Prohibits harassment in all its forms and sets out how a complaint is handled.
Follow the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace: define harassment broadly, including sexual harassment, racial, ethnic and social-origin harassment, and bullying; describe both the informal and the formal procedure; provide for the complainant’s choice between them; set out confidentiality, support and protection against victimisation; identify trained persons who may receive a complaint, of more than one gender; and address third parties — clients, suppliers and visitors.
The Code expects every employer to adopt a harassment policy and to communicate it, and an employer that fails to take reasonable steps once it knows of harassment can be held liable under the Employment Equity Act. Two drafting points decide whether the policy works: the complainant must be able to choose the informal route without losing the formal one, and the person receiving complaints must not be the employee’s own manager.
The law it sits under
What governs this instrument.
The Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace, issued under the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, requires employers to take proactive steps and sets what a workplace policy should contain. Harassment is a form of unfair discrimination under the EEA, and the employer may be held liable under section 60 where it fails to act after the conduct is brought to its attention.
Related pages, tools and documents
Where this instrument sits in the wider set, and the engagement that produces it.
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