23.10.2024 | Law

New sexual harassment obligations: what employers need to know

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 is due to come into force on 26 October 2024. The Act will:

• Introduce a duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.
• Give employment tribunals the power to uplift discrimination compensation by up to 25% if an employer is found to have breached the duty to prevent sexual harassment.
• Give the Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) powers to investigate non-compliance, issue unlawful act notices, and impose unlimited fines.

The EHRC Guidance states “the preventative duty is an anticipatory duty. It is designed to transform workplace cultures by requiring employers to take positive and proactive reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers. This means that employers should not wait until a sexual harassment complaint has been raised before they take action.

“It doesn’t surprise me that the government has introduced these changes. Attitudes towards sexual harassment and assault in the workplace are still very poor in places, and the cases I have seen in recent years are very worrying.” Kelly Sayers, Partner and Employment Law Specialist at Keystone Law

So, what is meant by “reasonable steps?”

The new positive obligation to take reasonable steps is broadly drafted. Clearly, the more steps an employer has taken to actively seek to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, the better it will be to defend a claim for sexual harassment successfully. However, it’s not sufficient to rely solely on good policies.

Step 1 is to risk assess—consider the risks of sexual harassment in the workplace, consider what steps could be taken to reduce or remove that risk, consider which of those steps would be reasonable to take, bearing in mind the time, cost, and potential disruption caused by taking the step, and implement any reasonable steps identified.

Step 2 is to implement policies and procedures to seek to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Policies should be carefully drafted and deal with potential risk factors that may arise in the workplace specific to that employer. These include policies around equal opportunities, harassment policy, considering the language used in grievance and disciplinary policies, social media, internet and I.T policies and relationships at work policies.

Step 3 is to train employees on the policies and procedures. A brief box-ticking training session that does not adequately address issues that are known to exist in the workplace will not be sufficient (even if it took place recently). Training should also include tailored advice on third-party harassment, such as dealing with difficult customers. Managers and supervisors should receive extra training.

Consider workplace culture, undertake staff surveys, and review past incidents to identify patterns or reoccurring issues. Look at the structure of your organisation and how this might “feed” harassment. Take action if complaints are raised. This means dealing with issues immediately and encouraging reporting by providing as many ways of reporting as possible. Publicise the different methods available. The role of the male sponsor. It’s important for workplaces to consider the importance of men in preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. Male colleagues can be coached to stand up for females in the workplace. Monitor compliance by diarising to update risk assessments regularly and encourage employee feedback about the workplace environment and the effectiveness of any anti-harassment measures you take.

“This is a significant change that will apply to all employers regardless of size. Employers need to act; it would be foolish to ignore it,” warned  Kelly Sayers, Partner and Employment Law Specialist at Keystone Law

For further details and support, contact Kelly Sayers on kelly.sayers@keystonelaw.co.uk