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backCHINAtalk February, 2012

Hong Kong: Equal Opportunities Commission Warns Employers to Create a Zero-Tolerance Culture Against Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

In brief:

In a recent District Court Case, the Equal Opportunities Commission provided legal support to an employee of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department who had been sexually harassed by a male work colleague in a recent District Court case. The unlawful behaviour included the male colleague making remarks with sexual overtones and adopting inappropriate body language on numerous occasions. The District Court made the following orders against the harasser:

• to pay compensation of HK$50,000 for injury to feelings;

• to pay an additional HK$10,000 as a penalty for falsely making up a defence;

• to pay the plaintiff's litigation costs; and

• to apologize in writing.

The employer was criticized for exacerbating the plaintiff's anxiety and stress by failing to provide support, rejecting her complaints against the harasser on the basis of a lack of substantial evidence and rejecting her application to transfer to another section.

Take away points:

Five steps to improve compliance with anti discrimination legislation

Most employers have equal opportunities policies but ensuring that they have a genuine deterrent effect and are followed throughout the workforce is another story altogether.

Employers should consider taking the following steps:

1. Give your equal opportunities policy 'teeth'
Review the equal opportunities policy (or create one!). Does it have sufficiently broad examples to cover what constitutes discriminatory behaviour - in particular the more subtle forms of harassment? Consider making adherence to the policy part of employees' annual evaluation.

2. Involve senior management
Consider appointing a senior member of the organization as the 'equal opportunities champion' thus elevating discrimination on the internal agenda.

3. Ensure team leaders and managers are fully trained to act upon complaints or identify inappropriate behaviour in their teams
Imposing mandatory equal opportunities training for all newly promoted team leaders and managers and refresher training every two years for all other team leaders and managers is likely to create an environment where problems are identified early and dealt with more effectively.

4. Create a specialist panel
For large organizations, consider creating a specialist panel of two or three staff who have been trained to deal with the complexities of discrimination grievances and disciplinaries. This will ensure that basic steps are taken at the outset which will minimize stress to the complainant such as considering how to handle the parties while the complaint is being investigated and ensuring that any discriminatory behaviour ceases immediately. The knowledge that this panel will build up may prove to be valuable in identifying and addressing systemic problems within the company and also in managing the risk of legal claims by ensuring appropriate action is taken.

5. Send a message to staff by dealing quickly and fairly with complaints and discriminators
If a complaint is founded then swift and proportionate action should be taken against the discriminator/harasser demonstrating how seriously the organization takes such behaviour.

Source: Baker & McKenzie - GAI

For more information or to contact Baker & McKenzie, please click here.

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