Sexual Harassment – better protection for staff
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 will come into force on 26 October 2024. The Act requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent staff from being sexually harassed during their employment. An employer’s failure to offer adequate protection could result in an Employment Tribunal imposing a 25% uplift to any compensatory award.
Bratt v JGQC Solicitors: Case review
In the light of the new legal duty for employers to take a proactive approach to protecting their employees from sexual harassment (see above)this case serves as a useful warning that employers must take such allegations seriously. It will no longer be appropriate to defend poor behaviour as “workplace banter”.
Miss Bratt took her employer, a firm of solicitors, to tribunal claiming sexual harassment following several unwanted comments from the owner of the firm, Mr Hall. She started working for the firm in January 2022 and resigned 5 weeks later, after a series of incidents, she alleged, were inappropriate and of a sexual nature.
During the tribunal, witnesses who gave evidence in support of Mr Hall, revealed that such comments were an accepted part of their workplace culture, dismissing them as just “banter”.
The Tribunal determined that the Respondent’s conduct was such as to have had “the prescribed effect of creating an offensive environment” and found that the complaints were well-founded. Crucially, the Tribunal stated “It is all too easy for things to be said and given the label of ‘banter’ or that it was just a joke, but this plainly cannot be right. It is immaterial whether the conduct is acceptable to others or is indeed common in the workplace.”
Posted on 08/28/2024 by Ortolan
