Earlier this year we circulated an Information Update advising of the implementation of new legislation amending the Equality Act 2010 in respect of sexual harassment in the workplace.
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces including from third parties. If they fail to do so, a tribunal can award a claimant additional compensation of up to 25% of their compensatory award.
The Act came into force on 26th October 2024 and employers need to be looking to take steps to enhance awareness of the risk of sexual harassment occurring and to anticipate scenarios when its workers may be subject to sexual harassment in the course of employment and take action to prevent such harassment taking place.
Employers should consider:
Evaluating the Culture in your Organisation
Identify the extent to which there may be a problem within your workplace. This could be done by asking staff about their experiences via confidential surveys. Ask all employees if they have been sexually harassed (or harassed due to another protected characteristic, such as their race, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, age, etc.); and ask them to confirm if this was by a work colleague or a third party; and it would be helpful to ascertain if they reported the incident/s, and if not, the reasons why not.
Train your Staff
Once you have this information, you will need to focus on your own employees/workers and critically evaluate the training required and who receives it.
All employees/workers should undertake regular equality and diversity training which should also include sexual harassment.
The training should cover in detail:
- What sexual harassment is;
A person (A) harasses another (B) if:
(a) A engages in unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, and
(b) The conduct has the purpose or effect of:
(i) Violating B’s dignity, or
(ii) Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for B.
Definition of Harassment: Equality Act 2010
That inappropriate conduct could include:
- Verbal and non-verbal communications.
- Unwanted conduct affecting the dignity of workers in the workplace.
- Spreading rumours maliciously, insulting someone.
- Ridiculing or demeaning someone, making derogatory remarks.
- Exclusion or victimisation.
- Unfair treatment.
- Unwelcome sexual advances – compromising invitations, unwanted physical contact or touching, standing too close, display of offensive materials, offensive flirtations, innuendoes or lewd comments or gestures, sexual assault.
- Unwelcome comments including name calling or use of stereotypical expressions.
- Deliberately undermining a worker by constant criticism.
- Preventing individuals progressing by deliberately blocking promotion or training opportunities.
- Standards of behaviour when interacting with colleagues via social media (irrespective of whether work related) and when they socialise with colleagues.
- Types of banter in the workplace and what is/is not acceptable.
Train your Managers
Managers need additional training to reinforce this message and step in when necessary. Managers need to recognise when a normal light-hearted conversation oversteps the mark, intervene to diffuse the situation, and demonstrate good practice by how they speak and behave towards others. You shouldn’t assume that this is a skill set all managers have and they may require support and training to help them to develop these skills.
Make it Easy to Report Incidents
Your policies should clearly explain how employees can make complaints.
Deal with Complaints Appropriately
All employees should be treated with respect and may need on-going support during the process. You should set out a timeframe for the investigation and keep the complainant aware of the steps you are going to take and the outcome you reach. Anyone who is guilty of bullying or harassing a colleague should be disciplined. Anyone who makes a complaint should be able to work normally.
Update your Policies
Make sure that you have appropriate policies in place and reflect your approach. Review these regularly to ensure that they remain fit for purpose.
Future Developments
The Government have recently published their Employment Rights Bill with a raft of changes to employment law including matters related to equality. This suggests that further action may be taken in this area and we will keep you advised of developments as consultation of the new Bill proceeds.
