How To Deal With Discrimination And Harassment In The Workplace

Complaints rarely arrive sorted into categories. Learning to deal with discrimination and harassment together matters because most real matters allege both, and splitting them into two processes is where organisations come unstuck.

Run one investigation. Two parallel processes produce two sets of findings that can contradict each other, and the complainant has to tell the story twice. Establish the facts once, then apply each legal test to those facts separately at the end.

Sequence it deliberately. Deal with immediate safety and any need for separation first, before the merits. Then establish what happened. Only then decide which categories the conduct falls into, because that classification drives the outcome rather than the investigation.

Keep the categories in mind for the outcome, not the process. Harassment may need a single incident finding. Discrimination may need a comparator. The same evidence supports both.

The Australian Human Rights Commission publishes guidance for organisations. This is general information rather than legal advice, and a serious matter warrants proper advice.

See Sentrient’s sexual harassment course, workplace bullying course and equal employment opportunity course.