Risk factors for sexual harassment in the workplace

As an employer, you have a legal and ethical duty to provide safe work environments free of harassment, discrimination and other psychosocial hazards. It also makes business sense. A mentally healthy workplace is more productive, and you spend less on absenteeism and staff turnover.

In Australia, the Respect@Work reforms put sexual harassment in the workplace back at the top of the agenda. The positive duty in section 47C of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) took effect in December 2022. It requires employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination, as far as possible, before anyone complains. Since 12 December 2023, the Australian Human Rights Commission has had the power to enforce it.

Prevention starts with knowing the risk factors for sexual harassment in your own workplace. Once you can see where harassment is most likely, you can put your controls there first. You meet your legal obligations, and your people get a better place to work.

Understanding workplace sexual harassment

A manager who keeps commenting on a junior colleague's body is harassing her, whether or not he means it as a joke. Under section 28A of the Sex Discrimination Act, sexual harassment is an unwelcome sexual advance, an unwelcome request for sexual favours, or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, in circumstances where a reasonable person would have anticipated the possibility that the person harassed would be offended, humiliated or intimidated. It ranges from explicit comments and advances to quieter hints that a promotion or a better roster depends on going along with it.

Forms of harassment of a sexual nature

At work, it takes several forms:

• Verbal or written harassment: sexual comments about a person's private life or body.
• Physical acts: anything from an unwelcome advance or repeated requests for sexual favours to sexual assault.
• Explicit or unsolicited material: sharing or displaying sexually explicit pictures, jokes or other content.
• Employment conditions: making a role, a promotion or a benefit depend on sexual favours.

Sexual assault and harassment in Australia: a closer look

The Australian Human Rights Commission's Fourth National Survey on Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces (2018) asked more than 10,000 people about their experiences. One in three had been sexually harassed at work in the previous five years. For some groups the rate was much higher:

• 39% of female workers.
• 26% of male workers.
• 45% of young workers aged 18-29.
• 53% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers.
• 52% of gay, lesbian, bisexual and other non-heterosexual workers.
• 77% of workers with an intersex variation (from a small sample, which the Commission says to read with caution).

The pattern points to power. The groups with the highest rates tend to hold the least of it at work. Disadvantage also compounds. A young worker on a casual contract who also has a disability carries several risk factors at once. This overlap of identities such as race, age and disability is called intersectionality, and it raises the risk of sexual violence and harassment further.

The urgency for accountability

Sexual harassment in the workplace persists where nobody is held to account. When behaviour goes unchecked, serious misconduct starts to look normal. Write clear policies and behavioural standards to prevent workplace sexual harassment, tell everyone about them, and apply them every time, including when the person involved is senior or a high performer. A safer, more inclusive workplace depends on it.

Risk factors in the workplace

Sexual harassment can happen in any workplace. Some business structures and working conditions make it much more likely, and over time they build a culture where harmful behaviour becomes routine.

How a workplace is laid out, how its hierarchy works and how much staff deal with customers all shape the vulnerability the workforce faces. Some industries stand out. The Fourth National Survey on Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces found these rates of harassment over the previous five years:

• Information, media and telecommunications: 81% of employees reported sexual harassment in the last five years.
• Arts and recreation services: 49%
• Electricity, gas, water and waste services: 42%
• Retail trade: 42%

If you run a business in one of these industries, assume the risk is already present and plan for it.

The Australian Human Rights Commission's guidance on the positive duty names power imbalances, alcohol at work events and remote workplaces among the risk factors to assess. Start by identifying the hazards and assessing how severe they are. Below are five major risk factors for sexual harassment in the workplace, and what you can do about each.

Vulnerable employees in the workforce

Some workers are more exposed than others because of their circumstances. They include:

• New migrants or refugees whose visas depend on their employer's sponsorship.
• Workers with disabilities who can find it harder to speak up.
• People in insecure work, such as contractors or those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, who have more to lose and more reason to fear retaliation.
• Workers for whom English isn't a first language, who may struggle to read workplace norms or explain what happened to them.
• LGBTIQ+ individuals who face targeted harassment or discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Many also fear being ostracised further if they make a formal complaint.
• Young workers, who are new to work and often don't know their rights.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who face systemic racism in the workplace. Prejudice raises the risk of sexual harassment and makes it worse when it happens.

Lack of experience and knowledge

• The challenge: A teenager in their first job and a recent migrant starting over in a new country have the same problem. Neither knows yet what is normal at work, which makes it easier for someone to push unwanted advances or behaviour on them.
• The solution: Cover harassment in onboarding. In the first week, before anyone needs it, tell new starters what behaviour is expected of everyone, what their rights are and who they can go to.

Uncertainty about reporting incidents against senior employees

• The challenge: Reporting a senior or long-serving colleague is daunting for anyone. For a vulnerable worker already dealing with the power dynamics of the workplace, the fear of retaliation or losing their job can be enough to stay quiet.
• The solution: Set up and promote anonymous reporting channels to take some of that fear away. Then show people that reports are taken seriously and that nobody suffers for making one. That track record is what makes a channel feel safe to use.

Misunderstanding of what constitutes harassment in the workplace

• The challenge: Someone with little experience of professional workplaces might not recognise subtle harassment, or might talk themselves out of it. Not every act of harassment is overt, and the subtle ones can do the most damage.
• The solution: Run training that is culturally aware and inclusive, with concrete examples of the different forms harassment takes. Every employee, and especially those in vulnerable groups, should be able to recognise harassment and know how to report it.

Diversity in the workplace

Diverse teams bring real benefits, including higher levels of innovation and the chance to reach new markets. Managed badly, diversity can also increase the potential for harassment.

Workplaces with little cultural diversity

• The challenge: In a homogenous workplace, biases and stereotypes go unchallenged. People with little contact with other cultures hold on to their misconceptions.
• The solution: Recruit from a wider range of backgrounds and experiences, so people work alongside colleagues who see things differently. Marking holidays, traditions and events from other cultures is an informal way to build understanding.

Power dynamics in majority-minority settings

• The challenge: Where a workforce splits clearly into a majority and a minority, power tilts. People in the majority can exert undue influence, and people in the minority end up feeling vulnerable or marginalised.
• The solution: This one sits with leadership. Managers can rebalance these dynamics by promoting diversity at every level, including their own, and by checking that every group feels included.

Risks in highly diverse workplaces

• The challenge: A wide mix of backgrounds brings more perspectives, and more room for cultural misunderstandings.
• The solution: Go further than diversity initiatives. Engage your employees in conversation about different cultures, celebrate cultural events, and make mutual respect and understanding the focus of training.

Customer service and client satisfaction roles

In industries built on customer service and client satisfaction, staff are caught between keeping the customer happy and protecting their own dignity. Getting that balance right is hard.

Prioritising customer needs over employee safety

• The challenge: When pay is tied to customer satisfaction, staff feel pressure to let inappropriate behaviour slide. A waiter who relies on tips, or a salesperson on commission, may put up with unwanted behaviour from a customer rather than lose the sale.
• The solution: Build a culture where staff feel safe, and back it up when it is tested. Tell your people plainly that "the customer is always right" never extends to their dignity or safety.

Setting boundaries on acceptable customer behaviour

• The challenge: Power imbalances develop in some industries, particularly where tipping is customary. The leisure and hospitality sectors carry a higher risk of harassment, as the number of claims made by workers in these fields shows.
• The solution: Set clear rules on how customers may treat staff, and enforce them. Managers should step in when a boundary is crossed, train staff to handle difficult situations, and support them when they assert those boundaries.

Isolated work environments

Many jobs involve working alone or with little contact with other people. That has some benefits, but it also leaves workers more exposed to harassment.

Employees working alone

• The challenge: Whether the isolation comes from the job itself or where it is done, it leaves workers open to physical and psychological harassment. With no one to witness sexual harassment, harassers feel emboldened, and the person targeted can feel trapped with nowhere to turn.
• The solution: Schedule regular check-ins, put proper security in place, and give lone workers a direct line to a supervisor or colleague. These measures add a layer of physical security and reassure the worker that someone is looking out for them.

Real-world examples and preventive measures

• The challenge: Night-shift cleaners, hotel housekeepers and in-home carers often work alone. So do late-night convenience store attendants and staff in large warehouses. Mining and rural teaching are isolated by nature and present the same problem. With no witnesses, these settings leave room for exploitation.
• The solution: In industries known for isolated work, such as mining, cleaning, nannying or remote teaching, act before something happens. Options include security cameras, buddy systems and personal alarms. You can also restructure work so fewer people are left on their own. Make sure every worker knows the complaint procedure, which makes it easier for them to report incidents without fear.

Some jobs will always involve isolated work, and the risk that comes with it is real. Identify the hazards, put protective measures in place, and your staff can do the work safely and with peace of mind.

Workplace cultures and alcohol consumption

Plenty of workplaces socialise over a drink: after-work drinks, end-of-year parties, a celebration when a big project lands. These events can lift morale and bring a team together. They also lower inhibitions and impair judgement, which is where the risk comes from.

Increased likelihood of harassment with alcohol consumption among co-workers

• The challenge: Alcohol is often treated as a social lubricant, but it lowers inhibitions and clouds judgement. People say and do things they wouldn't sober. Some treat a drink as a free pass for reckless behaviour and misconduct.
• The solution: Banning alcohol at work events might seem extreme, so promote moderation and responsible behaviour instead. Make sure staff understand how alcohol affects behaviour and decision-making. Co-workers should also be trained to intervene and handle situations where they see someone behaving inappropriately after drinking.

Addressing the implications of drunkenness in the workplace

• The challenge: An alcohol-related incident can have legal and professional consequences for everyone involved. It affects the victim and the perpetrator, and it can damage the company's reputation as well.
• The solution: HR and management have a central role in preventing these incidents and dealing with them. Put a clear policy on alcohol at work events in place. Tell employees what happens to someone who harasses a colleague while drunk. Make sure people can report an incident without fear of retaliation.

Sexual harassment can still occur in work-from-home settings

Working from home puts physical distance between people, but sexual harassment has followed workers online. One survey from 2021 found that 38% of remote workers still experienced harassment through digital channels like email, video calls and chat apps. 

Online communication feels impersonal, and there is no manager in the room. Both make inappropriate behaviour easier. A digital workspace offers no built-in protection against harassment. As remote work becomes more common, update your guidelines and policies to cover online interactions, so remote staff also work in a respectful and inclusive environment.