Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
We mentioned last month that the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act received Royal Assent at the end of October 2023. It imposed a new obligation for employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees from 26 October 2024.
Employers now have less than a month to make sure that they have taken positive steps to address this requirement.
The EHR has now updated their technical guidance following the consultation, making it clear that policies will not be enough to have taken “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees, and that an employer is unlikely to be able to comply with the preventative duty unless they carry out a risk assessment. We would urge employers to make sure that this has been completed asap.
The technical guidance includes the following:
- A link to an eight-step guide as a good starting place
- Confirmation that this is a “separate positive legal duty that requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers”.
- Notes that whether or not the employer has taken reasonable steps is an objective test, and will depend on the facts and circumstances of each situation.
- Notes that the employer’s preventative duty extends to requiring employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers by third parties, such as clients and customers, although a worker cannot bring a stand-alone claim in the employment tribunal for third party harassment.
Posted on 10/01/2024 by Ortolan
