The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 comes into force in October 2024 and places new duties and responsibilities on employers when it comes to Sexual Harassment. Whilst none of this will be new to good employers, obviously you'd expect companies to make sure they prevent and deal with sexual harassment, the new duty brings this into law and provides some guidance on what's expected of employers. In this blog we outline the basics to help ensure you’re ready for the changes.
What is the new law?
The new law will come into force as of 26th October 2024 and will require all employers in the UK to take reasonable steps to protect their employees from sexual harassment.
How does the law define sexual harassment?
Sexual harassment is defined by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as:
“unwanted conduct of a sexual nature” that has the purpose or effect of “violating a worker’s dignity” or “creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that worker”.
What do employers need to do?
You’ll need to check your current policies and procedures to make sure you’re taking preventative measures, not that you just have a policy in place. You’ll need to put in place reasonable steps to protect your employees which includes carrying out risk assessments and where you're a large enough organisation putting training in place to make sure your people understand their responsibilities and how the new law works. Whilst you could update your existing bullying and harassment policies, we think it makes sense to have a separate policy which covers sexual harassment and shows your commitment to the new law. It doesn't need to be long, but needs to cover your approach.
What happens is businesses don’t make changes?
Where employees don’t comply, when cases reach tribunal any compensation awarded can be uplifted by 25% where employers haven’t followed the Act. The Equality and Human Rights Commission also have the ability to take enforcement actions.
What should you do next?
If you're an employer we’d recommend:
Make sure your leaders and managers are aware of the new duty and their duty to lead from the top
You put in place a sexual harassment policy
You carry out a risk assessment looking at where your employees could be subject to sexual harassment and what measures you'd put in place to prevent it, make sure you keep a record of the risk assessment, a policy alone is not enough
Consider putting in place training for your people to ensure they understand what sexual harassment is and what their role is in preventing it
Need some HR help?
If you need some support to make sure you are compliant, get in touch, we've got ready made policies and all the information you need to stay on top of this legal change.
Resources
If you'd like more information you can review:
The Equality and Human Rights Commissions guidance on sexual harassment here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/sexual-harassment-and-harassment-work-technical-guidance
You can review the full regulations here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/51/contents
Recent case law https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1885729/case-update-sexual-harassment-work
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Disclaimer
All information within the post is provided for guidance only; always seek your own legal advice.
The information with this post was correct at the time of publishing, October 2024 but may be subject to change.
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