How to Deal With Discrimination as an Employer

How you deal with discrimination as an employer is usually judged on your response, not on whether the conduct happened. That is because of vicarious liability. Under the federal anti-discrimination Acts an employer can be held responsible for what its employees do in connection with their work, unless it can show it took all reasonable steps to prevent it.

Reasonable steps is not a box you tick once. It means a current policy people have actually seen, training that everyone completed and repeated, managers who know what to do with a complaint, and a record you can produce later. An organisation that cannot show any of that is arguing from a weak position no matter how well it handled the individual matter.

So when a complaint arrives, do two things at once. Deal with the matter properly, and check whether the conditions that allowed it are still in place everywhere else. The Australian Human Rights Commission publishes guidance for organisations. This is general information rather than legal advice, and a serious matter warrants proper advice early.

See Sentrient’s equal employment opportunity course, workplace bullying course and the workplace compliance system that records completions.