Sexual Harassment and Bullying

Sexual Harassment & Bullying in the Workplace

Sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace are illegal in Western Australia.

It is unlawful to treat a person less favourably on the basis of attributes such as a person’s gender; sexual orientation; race; disability or age.

If you feel you are being bullied or sexually harassed at work and your employer is not responding appropriately to your complaints, you should seek legal advice from an expert Compensation Lawyer today.

What is Bullying in the Workplace?

Bullying is when an individual or group of individuals repeatedly behave unreasonably towards a worker and that behaviour creates a risk to health and safety.

Bullying includes a range of behaviours such as:

  • yelling, screaming or offensive language;
  • excluding or isolating employees;
  • psychological harassment;
  • intimidation;
  • assigning meaningless tasks unrelated to the job;
  • giving employees impossible jobs;
  • deliberately changing work rosters to inconvenience particular employees;
  • undermining work performance by deliberately withholding information vital for effective work performance;
  • constant unconstructive criticism and/or nitpicking;
  • suppression of ideas;
  • overloading a person with work or allowing insufficient time for completion and criticising the employees work in relation to this.

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What is Sexual Harassment in the Workplace?

Sexual harassment is when a person makes an unwelcome sexual advance, an unwelcome request for sexual favours, or engages in other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in relation to a person.

This occurs in circumstances where it is possible that the person harassed would be offended, humiliated or intimidated. Sexual harassment can be subtle and implicit rather than explicit.

The following behaviours are examples of sexual harassment in the workplace:

  • unwelcome touching;
  • staring or leering;
  • suggestive comments or jokes;
  • sexually explicit pictures or posters;
  • unwanted invitations to go out on dates;
  • requests for sex;
  • intrusive questions about a person’s private life or body;
  • unnecessary familiarity, such as deliberately brushing up against a person;
  • insults or taunts based on sex;
  • sexually explicit physical contact;
  • sexually explicit emails or SMS text messages.

Read more about Sexual Harassment in the Wokplace in the following articles:

Sexual Harassment in Workplace - what should I do?
Don't Just Endure Unwanted Advances
Sexual Harassment: What to do When the Victim is the Accused
Legal Options for Sexual Harassment in WA

Contact a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

If you are being sexually harassed or bullied at work and your employer is not responding appropriately to your complaints, you should seek legal advice.

Your employer may be liable to pay compensation under the West Australian workers’ compensation act and damages under the West Australian Equal Opportunities Act.

Perth City Legal provide accurate, practical legal advice in Western Australia. Contact us today, for a confidential, free initial consultation.

Call us to discuss your claim.

We understand your legal needs and we provide accurate and practical legal advice that is effective.
Call to request an obligation-free initial consultation.

(08) 9486 8088