Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious issue. Over recent years, the #MeToo movement has highlighted the problem. In 2023, high profile cases brought against McDonalds, Pizza Hut and the CBI served to increase public awareness and put sexual harassment of employees well and truly under the spotlight.

The UK government believes employers must do more to prevent unwanted sexual attention and advances being made under their watch. In October 2024, updated legislation will set out new obligations for employers to take steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Compliance with the law will protect both employees and organisations, as well as avoid potentially expensive tribunal claims and reputational damage.

Sexual harassment is a complex area of employment law made even more tricky due to personal perceptions. What one colleague perceives as ‘just banter’ or ‘just a laugh’ may be highly offensive and derogatory to another. In this blog we will grapple with the details of the forthcoming legislation change, consider what sexual harassment at work might look like, and recommend the steps employers can take now to ensure they are prepared.

Changing sexual harassment legislation

As one of several employment law updates planned for 2024, The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 will come into force on 26 October 2024 and will affect employers in England, Scotland and Wales.

Changes will be made in two specific areas:

1. The new legislation sets out the ‘reasonable steps’ employers must take to protect their employees from sexual harassment. This places a new obligation on employers to be proactive in preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.

2. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission will give employment tribunals the power to uplift sexual harassment compensation by up to 25% where an employer is found to have breached their new duty.

When you consider that compensation in the most serious sexual harassment cases has been known to exceed £50k, this could turn out to be a significant cost to employers.

Of course, the aim of the legislation is not to catch employers out. It is simply placing increased responsibility on organisations to make their workplaces safer for employees, with the ultimate aim being to stop sexual harassment at work. I think we can all agree that would be positive progress.

What does sexual harassment in the workplace look like?

According to the Office of National Statistics, a quarter of people who experience sexual harassment say they experienced this at their place of work.

Sexual harassment at work can include:

• Unwanted attention, calls or messages

• Inappropriate and offensive sexual jokes, comments or gestures

• Unwanted touching or advances

• Sharing sexually explicit images or videos on work email or messaging apps

• Making promises in return for sexual favours

• Displaying pornographic images in the workplace

Organisations have a duty of care to prevent these kind of activities happening at work, and to protect their employees from such behaviour.

What it means in practice

This change in employment law puts greater emphasis on prevention. Employers need to take steps to proactively prevent all types of sexual harassment in the workplace, not limited to those listed above. This means that, in the event of an allegation of sexual harassment, there will be increased scrutiny of employer behaviour and the measures they have put in place to prevent, respond to, and manage sexual harassment.

How can employers proactively prevent sexual harassment at work?

We have eight months to prepare for the amended legislation, and there’s no time like the present to start! These are the steps the P3 team believes employers should take now to get ahead and protect their people.

1. Take time to review your policies around sexual harassment and discrimination. Your policies should be clear about what is unacceptable behaviour, how to raise concerns and formalise complaints.

2. You should also take time to review the procedures for raising and handling complaints. Walk through each step from the perspective of an employee. Are your processes clear, fair and impartial?

3. Consider what ‘reasonable steps’ means to your organisation and how you will interpret the steps in your organisation.

4. Carry out risk assessments around the workplace and build prevention measures in to your plans.

5. Consider all existing training and education around sexual harassment. Training and induction programmes will need to be updated to meet the new requirements of the law. Don’t leave it too late!

6. What kind of additional education and awareness sessions would be useful? Think about tailoring the sessions to meet the needs of employees at different levels. For example, people managers and those in HR roles will need more detailed training, while employees should have a clear understanding of the behaviours and standards expected in the workplace. Every employee should be aware of what to do if they witness, or are a victim of, sexual harassment.

In reality, your ‘reasonable steps’ may involve regular, mandatory anti-harassment training backed up with clear policies and procedures on reporting and handling incidents.

If you are not experienced in managing employment law changes, support from a HR professional may be beneficial. Please ask if you are unsure what the change in legislation means for your organisation or what steps you need to take to implement it.

You might also find this article useful in shaping your approach: Steps employers can take to proactively prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

Act now to increase organisational resilience

Proactively changing your approach to preventing and managing sexual harassment in the workplace could make you a more resilient organisation. First and foremost, the law is there to protect people and businesses. When employees see evidence of their employer taking positive steps to keep them safe at work they are likely to feel happier and more engaged. This can boost productivity and contribute to a culture of wellbeing.

In the long-term, acting now will protect against the internal threat of being faced with a sexual harassment complaint. With a few carefully planned changes you can protect your business reputation and avoid the administrative and financial costs associated with escalation of complaints, employment tribunals and compensation claims.

Further reading

To explore more on this subject, take a look at our blogs on Brave Conversations, Employee Conduct, and How to tackle harassment allegations in the workplace.

How we can help

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this blog, please get in touch with us on 0161 941 2426. We’re here to help.