My issue is about harassment

Unwanted, hostile behaviour in the workplace because of who you are is known as harassment.

The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 (EEA) ban harassment on the basis of any of the nine grounds. Unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature (sexual harassment) is also against the law.

Harassment is behaviour which:

• damages your dignity, for example, mimicking a person with a speech impairment in a demeaning way
• puts you in a hostile situation or environment, for example, displaying posters of a racist nature.

Harassment can take many forms, including:

• actions
• gestures
• spoken or written words
• e-mails, text messages and social media posts

Harassment can be done by:

• employers
• co-workers, including supervisors and staff
• clients, customers and anyone else that the employer could reasonably expect you to come into contact with.

Example Regular customers in a hardware store avoid a checkout operated by a black person and make loud offensive remarks to other checkout staff.

Where an employee is harassed or on any of the nine grounds within the workplace or in the course of their employment, this will generally be regarded as discrimination by the employer, unless the employer can establish that it took reasonably practicable steps to prevent the employee from being harassed.

Do you think that you have been or are being harassed?

• Check if your situation is covered by the EEA.
• Find out what to do if you think you have been, or are being harassed under any of the nine grounds, covered by the EEA
• Find out what we can do to help