Pilton Sucks dotCom

Friends and readers. We have been asked by a reader in Dundee if we can post up some of the legislation with regards to Employment in relationship to bullying and harassment.

We are delighted to do so.

1]Employment Rights.

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996,an employee can resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal if they can show a breach of contract, which may include the employer’s failure to provide  reasonable support and a safe working environment.

2]Health and Satety.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers are responsible for ensuring as far as possible,the physical and psychological health,safety and welfare of employees at work,which includes putting in place measures to protect employees from the risk of bullying and harassment.

3]Management of Health and Safety at Work.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992,employers are required to carry out risk assessments to assess the causes of stress at work and introduce measures,as far as practicable,to reduce or prevent it.

4] Vicarious Liability.

Vicarious liability is an important concept in relation to bullying and harassment claims,in that an employer may be found to be vicariously liable for negligent acts or omissions by their employees in the course of employment whether or not such act or omission was specifically authorised by the employer.

The recent case of Majrowski has extended employer’s vicarious liability to bullying and harassment,so they can now be liable in criminal law for the bullying behaviour of their staff.

5]Human Rights

Under article 3 of the Human Rights Act of 1998,inhuman and degrading treatment is prohibited. Employers that do not prevent bullying and harassment outside the context of the equality legislation may therefore be in breach of the Act.

Thanks to our friend in Dundee for his request and we hope the above post is of use.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 11:45 am and is filed under No Category. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.