Strengthening of employer's responsibility for preventing sexual harassment proposed

The responsibility of employers for preventing sexual harassment at the workplace must be strengthened, according to an official report published in Sweden in September 1997.

The Act on Equality between Men and Women does not express distinctly enough the responsibility of employers for preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. That is the conclusion of an official investigator who presented her report at the end of September 1997.

The investigator consequently suggests that the Act is made much clearer, so that all employers understand that they have an obligation to take active measures to prevent sexual harassment. Furthermore, it must be made clear that any employer which discovers that sexual harassment might have taken place in the workplace must take immediate steps to stop it from continuing. If the employer fails to take the necessary action, then it should be made liable for damages to the employee(s) who have been subjected to the harassment.

The investigator also believes that there is a need for a redefinition of the notion of sexual harassment. The Swedish definition sexuella trakasserieris a direct translation from English, where it has a broader meaning than is the case in Swedish. The definition proposed in the report is based on a definition used in documents from the European Commission and the EU Council of Ministers, which states that sexual harassment consists of "unwelcome behaviour of a sexual character or other unwelcome behaviour based on sex, which affects the worker's integrity at the workplace and creates a scaring, hostile or humiliating working environment".

The proposal has been sent to the Government which is to decide on what action to take in the light of the report.