COMPANY NAME

COMPANY LOGO Reference number Date implemented

Document Name Harassment Policy

1. Policy statement

1.1 The company is committed to the protection and promotion of dignity, equality, and fair Labour
Practices in terms of the Bill of Rights.

1.2 In drafting of this policy, the company has had regard to:

 Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace (2022)
 Employment Equity Act (EEA) 55 of 1998 (as amended)
 International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions
 Labour Relations Act (LRA) 1995 as amended
 Protected Disclosures Act 26 of 2000
 Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 (PEPUDA)
 Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993
 Protection from Harassment Act 17 of 2011

2. Introduction

2.1 This policy seeks to eliminate all forms of harassment in the workplace and in any activity linked to or
arising out of work.

2.2 This policy outlines procedures to deal with issues arising out of incidents or complaints of harassment
and to prevent their recurrence.

2.3 The company has a zero-tolerance policy with respect to harassment. The employer and employees
alike are to respect one another’s integrity and dignity, their privacy, and their rights to equity in the
workplace.

3. Application of policy

3.1 This code is intended to guide employers, employees, perpetrators, and victims of any form of
harassment. This may include:
 Owners (Directors)
 Employers
 Managers
 Supervisors
 Employees, including Casuals, contractors etc.
 Job applicants and job seekers
 Persons in training including interns, apprentices, and persons on learnerships
 Volunteers
 Clients and customers
 Suppliers
 Contractors
 Other persons who have dealings with the company.

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3.2 Nothing in this policy or associated codes precludes employees from taking civil action in respect of
non-employees.

3.3 A non-employee, who is a victim of sexual harassment or any other form of harassment, may lodge a
grievance with the employer of the perpetrator where the harassment has taken place in the workplace
or during the perpetrator’s employment.

3.4 This policy applies in any situation where an employee is working, or which is related to their work.
This includes but is not limited to:
3.4.1 Public and private spaces in which employees perform their work.
3.4.2 Places where employees are paid, take rests/breaks, as well as sanitary, washing/changing,
breastfeeding, and medical facilities.
3.4.3 Work-related trips, travel, training, events, or social activities.
3.4.4 Work-related communications.
3.4.5 Employer-provided accommodation.
3.4.6 When commuting to and from work in employer-provided transport.
3.4.7 Employees employed in the residence of employers, or individuals who they care for, or the
residence is the workplace.
3.4.8 Where employees work virtually from their homes, or any place other than the employer’s
premises, the location where they are working is deemed the workplace.

4. Definition and Types of Harassment

4.1 What is Harassment?

4.1.1 Unwanted conduct, which impairs dignity, creates a hostile or intimidating work environment
for an employee or is calculated to or has the effect of inducing submission to actual or
threatened adverse consequences and is related to one or more grounds in respect of which
discrimination is prohibited in terms of section 6(1) of the EEA.

4.1.2 It includes violence, physical abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse,
gender-based abuse, and racial abuse. It includes the use of physical force or power, whether
threatened or actual, against another person or against a group or community.

4.2 Types of Harassment

Harassment may be a result of:

 Physical conduct including physical attacks, simulated or threatened violence, or gestures.
 Verbal conduct including threats, shaming, hostile teasing, insults, constant negative judgment,
and criticism, or racist, sexist, or LGBTQIA+ phobic language.
 Psychological conduct associated with emotional abuse and involving behaviour that has serious
negative psychological consequences for the complainant(s) such as bullying and mobbing.

4.3 Sexual Harassment

This is a form of unfair discrimination and is prohibited on the grounds of sex, gender, or sexual
orientation.

4.3.1 Harassment or sexual harassment may include unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal
conduct, not limited to the following examples:

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 4.3.1.1 Physical conduct of a sexual nature, and/or all unwanted physical contact, ranging
from touching to assault, sexual assault and rape, intimidation, as well as a strip search
conducted in the presence of the opposite sex.

4.3.1.2 Verbal forms of sexual harassment include unwelcome innuendo, suggestions, and
hints, sexual advances, comments with sexual undertones, sexually related jokes or
insults, unwelcome graphical comments about a person’s body made in their presence
or directed at them, unwelcome and inappropriate inquiries about a person’s sex life,
unwelcome whistling at a person or group of persons.

4.3.1.3 Non-verbal forms of sexual harassment include unwelcome gestures, indecent

exposure, and the display of sexually explicit pictures and objects.

4.3.1.4 Quid Pro Quo harassment is when an owner (Director), employer, supervisor, member
of management, or colleague undertakes or attempts to influence the process of
employment, promotion, training, discipline, dismissal, salary increment, or job
application in exchange for sexual favours.

4.3.1.5 Sexual favouritism exists when a person in a position of authority rewards only those
who respond to his or her sexual advances, whilst other deserving employees who do
not submit themselves to any sexual advances are denied promotions, merit rating, or
salary increases.

4.4 Racial, Ethnic, or Social Origin Harassment

4.4.1 This is a form of unfair discrimination prohibited by section 6(1) of the EEA which is related
to a person’s membership or presumed membership of a group identified by one or more of
the listed prohibited grounds or a characteristic associated with such group.

4.4.2 It is defined as unwanted conduct which can be persistent or a single incident that is harmful,
demeaning, humiliating, or creates a hostile or intimidating environment.

4.4.3 Racial harassment includes direct or indirect behavior such as racist verbal and non-verbal
conduct, remarks, abusive language, racist name calling, offensive behavior, gestures, and
racist cartoons, memes, or innuendos.

4.4.4 Racial harassment occurs when a person is subject to physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct,
based on race which undermines their dignity, or which creates an intimidating, hostile, or
humiliating work environment for the recipient.

4.4.5 The test to be applied in identifying whether conduct or language is racist, is whether it is
reasonably capable of conveying a racist meaning to the reasonable observer.

5. Guiding Principles

5.1 The company will create and maintain a working environment in which the dignity of employees is
respected. Victims of harassment should not feel that their grievances are ignored or trivialised, nor
should they fear reprisal.

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5.2 Employers, management, and employees are required to refrain from committing any act that
constitutes harassment.

5.3 Employers, management, and employees shall play their role in contributing towards creating and
maintaining a working environment in which harassment in unacceptable.

5.4 All stakeholders should ensure that their standard of conduct does not cause offense, and all should
discourage unacceptable behaviour on the part of others.

5.5 Employers or management will attempt to ensure that persons such as customers, suppliers, job
applicants, and other persons who have dealings with the company are not subjected to any form of
harassment by the company or its employees.

5.6 Necessary steps will be taken against acts of harassment that occur within the working environment,
which is brought to the attention of management.

5.7 All employees will be protected against victimisation, retaliation, intimidation, and from any false
accusation occurring because of lodging a grievance.

5.8 Allegations of harassment shall be dealt with seriously, expeditiously, sensitively, and confidentially
in the same manner as a disciplinary hearing.

5.9 Any form of harassment, including acts of violence, will not be tolerated in the workplace.

5.10 Harassment on a prohibited ground is a form of unfair discrimination which infringes the rights of the
complainant and constitutes a barrier to equality in the workplace.

5.11 Grievances or complaints about harassment will be investigated and handled in a confidential manner.

5.12 Where harassment has resulted in employees’ sick leave entitlement having been exhausted, the
company may consider granting additional paid sick leave in cases of serious harassment where the
employee on medical advice requires trauma counseling. If harassment results in an employee being ill
for longer than two weeks, the employee may claim illness benefits in terms of section 20 of the
Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001.

6. Procedure to be followed

6.1 Section 60 (1) of the EEA provides that any allegation of conduct by an employee in contravention of
the EEA must immediately be brought to the attention of the employer. Allegations must be
investigated, and appropriate steps must be taken to prevent a recurrence.

6.2 Harassment is a sensitive issue, and a victim may feel unable to approach the perpetrator, lodge a
formal grievance, or even turn to colleagues for support. The employer should designate a committee
or a responsible person (for example: members of the Employment Equity Committee if applicable,
comprising of two or three members) to whom victims may report an incident or who may be
approached for confidential advice. This committee or individual should be given the required
counselling and relevant labour relations skills and be capable of providing support and advice in a
confidential manner.

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7. Options to resolve the problem

7.1 Employees will be advised that there are two procedures available to resolve a problem relating to
harassment. Either an attempt can be made to resolve the situation in an informal way, or a formal
procedure may be embarked upon.

7.2 The employee will be under no duress to accept either option and will be free to pursue their chosen
course.

8. Informal procedure

8.1 It may be sufficient for the complainant to have an opportunity where he or she can explain to the
perpetrator that the behaviour directed towards them is offensive and unwelcome, that it is unsettling,
uncomfortable, and interferes with their work.

8.2 Should the complainant be uncomfortable with interacting with the perpetrator, an appropriate person
can approach the perpetrator, without revealing the identity of the complainant, and explain to the
perpetrator that certain forms of conduct constitute harassment on a prohibited ground, are offensive
and unwelcome, make employees feel uncomfortable, and interfere with their work.

8.3 If the informal approach does not provide a satisfactory result and the behaviour continues, or the
initial behaviour is of a more serious nature, it is necessary to embark on the formal procedure.

9. Formal procedure

9.1 A complainant may choose to follow a formal procedure, either with or without first following an
informal procedure.

9.2 The victim or the aggrieved party will report the incident to senior management or to the committee
and a grievance will be lodged against the perpetrator. The grievance shall be dealt with as per the
company grievance procedure policy.

9.3 The committee or senior management will investigate the grievance to ensure that the respondent is
not disadvantaged, and the position of the other party is not prejudiced if the grievance is found to be
unfounded.

9.4 If the conduct in question justifies further disciplinary action, disciplinary procedures will be initiated.

9.5 The company will protect the employee, having lodged the grievance in good faith, against
victimisation or retaliation throughout the course of grievance procedure.

9.6 Should disciplinary action follow because of the formal procedure having been followed, the
following sanctions may be imposed proportionate to the seriousness of the harassment in question:
warnings may be issued for minor instances of harassment, dismissal may ensue for continued minor
instances of harassment after warnings, as well as for serious instances of harassment. In appropriate
circumstances upon being found guilty of harassment, a perpetrator may be transferred within the
workplace or to another workplace within the company.

10. Criminal or civil charges

10.1 A victim of harassment has the right to pursue separate criminal and or civil charges against an alleged
perpetrator. The legal rights of the victim are not limited by this policy.

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11. Confidentiality

11.1 The employer and employees will ensure that an investigation into a grievance lodged in connection
with harassment will be kept confidential, and that the identities of the involved parties remain
confidential also.

11.2 All internal and external communications related to an incident of harassment will be treated as
confidential.

11.3 Considerations of confidentiality do not preclude the company from taking appropriate steps to protect
the safety or dignity of employees, either during the conduct of the investigation or subsequently.

11.4 The disciplinary inquiry shall be conducted as per the company’s disciplinary procedure and policy.
Only management designated to handle disciplinary cases as well as the aggrieved person,
representatives, the alleged perpetrator, witnesses when giving evidence, and an interpreter, if
required, should be present in the disciplinary inquiry.

It is the employee’s responsibility to contact management should he/she have any queries regarding this
policy.

I, ________________________________________, (employee number/ ID number) hereby agree that I

have read and understood the contents of this policy and agree to comply with the provisions of this policy.

Employee signature as receipt

hereof
Date

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