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In this guide
By Onah Attorneys Inc • Updated July 2026 • Legal information, not a substitute for advice on your specific matter.
The 2022 Code of Good Practice redefined workplace harassment broadly — sexual harassment, bullying, racial abuse, mobbing, even persistent humiliation by a manager. Employers who shrug now inherit liability. Here is how victims turn a toxic pattern into a case: the evidence, the grievance, the CCMA routes and the traps.
What counts as harassment
Unwanted conduct impairing dignity, creating a hostile environment — one serious incident or a pattern: sexual advances and comments, slurs, threats, deliberate exclusion, workload sabotage, public humiliation. The Code covers physical, verbal and psychological forms, including online conduct. ‘Tough management’ crosses the line when it targets and demeans rather than manages performance through fair process.
Employer liability — the s60 lever
Under the Employment Equity Act, an employer informed of harassment who fails to take reasonable steps becomes LIABLE for the harasser’s conduct. This transforms the case: you’re not suing a colleague with no money — you’re claiming against the company. The trigger is knowledge: report it in writing. Verbal corridor complaints build nothing.
Building the record
A contemporaneous diary (dates, words used, witnesses), preserved messages and emails, medical/psychological reports where health suffered, prior complaints by others (patterns sink respondents). Then the formal grievance per policy — stated as harassment under the Code, requesting specific protective steps. The employer’s response (or silence) becomes the s60 evidence.
The claim routes
Internal outcome unsatisfactory → CCMA: unfair discrimination/harassment disputes under the EEA (refer within 6 months) — remedies include damages and compensation, no dismissal required. If forced out → constructive dismissal (30 days, resignation as last resort after exhausting remedies — resign too early and the claim weakens). Serious sexual harassment also grounds criminal charges and civil damages in parallel. Protected disclosures add another shield where reporting triggered retaliation.
The traps
Resigning in the heat before grievance processes ran (constructive dismissal needs ‘intolerable’ plus exhausted alternatives); signing settlement/NDAs under pressure without advice; confronting via your own abusive messages (they become the counter-file); and deadline drift — 6 months (EEA) and 30 days (dismissal) arrive faster than healing does.
Frequently asked questions
My harasser is the owner — who do I even report to?
Report in writing anyway (creates the record), then go straight to the CCMA under the EEA — small-business owners enjoy no immunity, and the paper trail is your case.
Can I claim if I wasn’t dismissed?
Yes — EEA harassment claims stand alone: damages and compensation while still employed. Dismissal is a separate, additional claim if it comes.
Are recordings of my boss legal evidence?
A recording of a conversation you’re party to is generally admissible in labour forums — and routinely decisive in harassment matters.
What compensation is realistic?
EEA discrimination awards vary widely — from months of salary into six figures for egregious sexual harassment with employer inaction. Quantum tracks severity, duration, health impact and the employer’s response.
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