Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Since October 2024, all UK employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, as part of their legal obligations for employers and commitment to employee wellbeing. This duty will in due course be extended by the Employment Rights Bill to taking all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

Why is the duty important?

 Everybody should be able to come to work without fear of being sexually harassed by colleagues or third parties.

Failure to comply with the duty can lead to:

• An increase in compensation payable to employees who are victims of sexual harassment
• EHRC intervention
• Reputational damage

What do employers need to do?

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has produced detailed guidance and an 8-step guide. Here is practical advice for employers to ensure workplace compliance and meet their employer responsibilities.

The EHRC’s 8 recommended steps are:

1. Develop an effective anti-harassment policy. Have a clear and regularly updated policy specifically dealing with sexual harassment, which applies to all staff, that clearly sets out what conduct is unacceptable, the employer's zero-tolerance approach to such conduct, how staff can report inappropriate conduct, the process that will be followed and the support available for victims of sexual harassment and those who report it.
2. Staff engagement. Employers are advised to conduct regular one-to-ones, run staff surveys and exit interviews and have open-door policies.
3. Assess and take steps to reduce risk in the workplace. Carry out a risk assessment and conduct regular staff surveys to ascertain the extent of the potential problem for the business and identify areas of risk, both internally and in relation to third-parties that employees encounter during the course of their employment.
4. Reporting. Encourage the reporting of sexual harassment by having effective reporting mechanisms in place which provide different methods of raising a complaint and a clear process to make a complaint.
5. Staff training. Provide mandatory training for all staff on what amounts to sexual harassment, the standards of behaviour expected in the workplace and how to raise a complaint, and additional training for managers on how to handle a sexual harassment complaint.
6. What to do when a harassment complaint is made. Have an effective procedure for the investigation of complaints which ensures complaints are dealt with promptly, effectively and in a sensitive way, that the perpetrators of sexual harassment are sanctioned and appropriate support is provided to those who raise complaints, or are witnesses to complaints.
7. Dealing with third-party harassment. Take effective measures to help to minimise the risk of sexual harassment by third parties. This will become even more important when the Employment Rights Bill introduces liability for employers where their workers are harassed by third parties, such as customers.
8. Monitoring and evaluating actions. Employers should regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the steps they have put in place to prevent sexual harassment and implement any changes arising from this.