Online Sexual Harassment: HR and the use of Technology at Work

Employer Responsibility for Online Sexual Harassment

The recent Financial Times investigation into the men-only Presidents Club dinner has become the latest in a string of sexual harassment scandals. Another FT investigation found that technology is fuelling harassment. So can HR do more to control the use of technology at work?

In an interview with HR Magazine Employment Solicitor, Orla Bingham from Payne Hicks Beach stated:

“Employers owe employees a duty of care to protect them from such behaviour in the workplace, but it is more problematic when this takes place through social media or technology; not least because it can be harder to detect.

Robust social media and technology policies that strictly prohibit harassment through digital means should be disseminated and the consequences of this behaviour made clear. As evidence of online behaviour is more traceable it should be collected and relied on to discipline the offending employee(s) where appropriate.

However, this evidence is not always easy to access. Close monitoring of employees’ technology use is therefore a necessity to tackle this problem, but this must not be excessive or overly intrusive. Where a clear and legitimate reason exists, for example to safeguard workers, monitoring is likely to be justified as long as the workforce are made aware of it, which in itself may be a deterrent.”

Where does the policy audit trail go cold?

Having a robust social media and technology policy is positively the first step. However, the missing piece of the puzzle is often the resources within an HR team to ensure that the policy is distributed to everyone, collate proof that everyone has read and understood what it means, and finally, a signature which closes the loop and creates an audit trail to ensure they have agreed to it.

How can you close the compliance loop?

WorkWize from VinciWorks offers a complete solution to the problem of distributing policies and managing compliance.

Upload your existing policies and procedures
Automate the distribution of them to all employees
Add a test to each to confirm understanding

WorkWize not only keeps a record of the test but also collects a digital signature to confirm acceptance.

Add in our Business Protection Pack which contains 16 CPD certified eLearning courses covering the major HR Policy issues, and you are in a position to educate your teams on everything from GDPR and Cyber Security to Code of Conduct.

How are you managing your GDPR compliance requirements?

GDPR added a significant compliance burden on DPOs and data processors. Data breaches must be reported to the authorities within 72 hours, each new data processing activity needs to be documented and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) must be carried out for processing that is likely to result in a high risk to individuals. Penalties for breaching GDPR can reach into the tens of millions of Euros.

“In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.”