Usually used as a term with regards to detrimental treatment of an employee after making a complaint under the Statutory Grievance Procedure or by way of an Employment Tribunal. There are specific clauses contained within other legislative acts in the UK which define victimisation.
Victimisation may take many forms including Black balling, bullying, harassment and other such discriminatory acts. The list is not endless.
Legal Definition
In legal terms, victimisation is defined as conduct that is attracted to a person as a reprisal or ‘punishment’ for that person either registering a formal complaint or attempting to exercise a statutory right under UK Employment law (such as, but not limited to, demand for legal minimum holiday entitlement, equal pay, itemised pay statement etc).
Some examples could be:
- An employee is subjected to disciplinary action for spurious or tenuous reasons after they raise a statutory grievance against another member of staff.
- An employee receives threats, is ignored (black-balled/sent to Coventry) after making a statutory grievance complaint.
- An employee is dismissed after they raise a statutory grievance or Employment tribunal against their employer.
This list is not exhaustive, and it may be a case of seeking further legal advice to clarify that detrimental treatment can be proven to be as a result a desire to enact reprisals for a legal action or complaint the employee has raised.
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