Navigating the Upcoming Changes to Workplace Sexual Harassment Legislation Webinar with Simon Swan and Jennifer Smith
This blog is for information purposes only. It is an overview of the recent Hiring Hub webinar discussion on the upcoming Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 amendments. You must not rely on the information in this post as an alternative to advice from an appropriately qualified legal professional.
On the 10th of October, Hiring Hub founder Simon Swan met with Jennifer Smith, Employment and HR Partner at Forbes Solicitors, to discuss the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 legislation, which is now in force. Jennifer acknowledged that there is a great deal of uncertainty in the world of employment law right now but highlighted that the new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of employees is a legal requirement, so employers must educate themselves now.
From the 26th of October, employers are now under a new legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers in the course of their employment. Jennifer emphasised that this means companies can no longer be reactive to sexual harassment within the workplace; they must be proactive to prevent it from happening in the first place.
How is Sexual Harassment Defined in Law?
During the webinar, Jennifer discussed how, under the Equality Act, sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.
Jennifer went on to clarify that one single incident can amount to sexual harassment, and it also includes treating someone less favourably because they have submitted or refused to submit to unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. In addition, a person may be sexually harassed even if they were not the intended target.
The Importance of a Risk Assessment
Jennifer highlighted that one of the biggest changes is that the new duty on all employers will cover harassment from third parties, such as customers or clients, as the Equality and Human Rights Commission have made it clear that they will be prepared to take enforcement action against organisations who overlook the risk of third-party harassment.
Employers are also unlikely to be able to comply with this new legal preventative duty unless they carry out a risk assessment. Much like a company’s health and safety framework, Jennifer advised that organisations must now have a risk assessment for sexual harassment in the workplace.
The approach to this is not one size fits all and each risk assessment will be different for employers of different sizes and across different industries. For example, the risks in the hospitality industry will be very different to the risks in a school. Jennifer suggested that employers need to think about potential ‘hotspots’ for their business and sector when devising a risk assessment for sexual harassment. Do staff travel for work and stay in hotels? Are there social functions with alcohol involved? Do you use communications platforms or are employees working from home?
Jennifer did also mention that the expectations of large companies compared to a small business will likely be different due to their HR capacity and capabilities.
Employer 8-Step Guide
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has produced an 8-step guide to support organisations comply new sexual harassment legislation. While Jennifer confirmed that this isn’t legally binding, she is certain that employment tribunals will use the guide to help them in cases involving sexual harassment in the workplace and it is worth remembering that the Equality and Human Rights Commission also have separate powers of enforcement.
Jennifer highlighted several areas of guidance in the webinar:
- Creating an Effective Anti-Harassment Policy
This needs to be a living and breathing document that gives employees the information they need to know if sexual harassment happens. Jennifer stressed that these documents cannot be collecting dust somewhere; they must be updated regularly and certainly on an annual basis.
- Engage the workforce about this issue
Involve employees in the conversations about sexual harassment in the workplace and the company policies in place.
- Assess and Take Steps to Reduce the Risk in the Workplace
Perform a risk assessment tailored to your organisation and industry and regularly review and update it as required. Communicate that as a business, there is a zero-tolerance stance towards sexual harassment, for example, having non-harassment statements in company contracts and commercial paperwork or public signage for customer-facing businesses.
- Set up Reporting Procedures
Ensure employees understand what to do if they experience or witness sexual harassment in the workplace.
Jennifer suggested a system for reporting sexual harassment is a good idea. Some businesses use an app which allows anonymous reporting, which is a good way to encourage people to report, but Jennifer raised the point that this method alone may not properly address the needs of a multi-generational workforce.
- Roll Out Effective Training
Effective training on sexual harassment policies and procedures is vital for everyone in a business. Jennifer suggested that this should happen when someone begins employment, with regular updates throughout the year. Don’t forget the training requirements for managers and HR staff who will likely receive these complaints, as well as bystander training for people on what to do when they see something inappropriate and need to call this behaviour out and report it.
Read the full Equality and Human Rights Commission guide here.
Summary
In summary, the webinar was a great opportunity to get an in-depth overview on the upcoming changes to sexual harassment legislation and learn from an expert in employment law. We recommend watching the webinar for the whole discussion and a deeper coverage of the topic than this overview provides.
Click here to watch the webinar.
