Employers have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect their staff from online bullying and harassment.
This is the LGA's guidance for employers on:
- countering online intimidation and abuse of staff
- supporting staff experiencing online harassment.
The issue
Local government employees often face heightened public scrutiny. However, this is increasingly escalating into online abuse or intimidation of these staff, affecting their mental, physical and professional wellbeing.
Local authorities already have policies and practices in place to protect the physical safety of staff at work, for example lone worker policies, however these must extend to also address emotional and psychological harm, especially from online abuse or harassment.
Employers’ duties
Employers have legal responsibilities, both under common law and health and safety legislation, to protect employees from harm, including harm caused by online abuse and intimidation.
Reasonable preventative measures are required by law to ensure a safe work environment, including acting to prevent online abuse and harassment as far as is possible. These duties apply even if the abuse doesn't meet the legal threshold for police action.
Women are particularly at risk of experiencing a variety of harmful behaviours online, such as image-based abuse and sexualised bullying. Employers must take reasonable steps to prevent their workers from being subjected to sexual harassment by third parties at work, including online harassment. See the LGA’s information on sexual harassment at work for more information.
While online abuse can't always be prevented, there is increasing expectation for organisations to take reasonable steps to address and mitigate it.
The main pieces of legislation are:
Preventing and managing online abuse
There are a number of things employers can do to counter online abuse and harassment, and to support workers’ health and safety and wellbeing at work.
It's important to judge the appropriate response to online abuse and what support is needed on a case-by-case basis and to discuss the management of the situation with the member of staff affected. Even where online abuse and intimidation does not meet criminal thresholds, it may still have a profoundly negative impact on workers and their families, particularly if it is repeated and if it strays into additional concerning activity and/or threats.
The following actions can help to ensure a proactive and supportive approach to preventing and managing online abuse in the workplace.
Reporting and recording online abuse
Organisations encourage staff to report all incidents of online abuse. To support this:
- clear, accessible reporting processes must be in place, supported by appropriate staff guidance.
- multiple reporting routes should be available to suit different needs.
- effective monitoring and regular impact assessments are essential to evaluate the system’s effectiveness and improve it.
- pattern recognition (eg, repeat offenders) can aid in early risk identification and justify further action (eg, applying vexatious persons policies).
- Nominate accountable roles (eg, monitoring officer, HR director) should oversee the management, reporting, and monitoring of issues relating to the online abuse and harassment of staff.
Supporting staff experiencing online harassment and abuse
Employers should clearly identify and communicate who can support staff experiencing online abuse.
Support should be tailored to the incident and employee’s needs and may include:
- single points of contact, including out of office hours support for wellbeing, such as through an employee assistance provider.
- conversations with line managers to manage workloads or review frontline duties to reduce exposure to individuals or groups who may be sending distressing messages
- counselling from the organisation’s employee assistance provider or occupational health service
- technical support, for example from IT teams offering technological support by enabling profanity filters etc.
- legal services advice for example if the police need to become involved
- communication specialists to engage with groups or individuals to inform them that their messaging is inappropriate
- trade union guidance and support.
Individuals or organisations identified as appropriate points of support for individuals affected by online abuse should have the necessary information and resources to provide assistance.
Organisations should also regularly review and update policies on conduct, bullying, and harassment to make clear that online abuse of colleagues is unacceptable and will be addressed using the organisation’s management policies. Clear policies help foster a safer environment and encourage staff to report incidents confidently.
Additional resources
- LGA wellbeing resources
- LGA Sexual harassment at work
- LGA Debate not Hate campaign and resources
- LGA Civility in Public Life report and resources
- Glitch, a UK charity for ending online abuse, particularly for Black women and marginalised people, offering training, research, and community work
- Professionals Online Safety Helpline – Guidance: Responding to Online Reputational Issues and Harassment Directed at Schools and School Staff