The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into effect on 26 October 2024. Under this change in legislation, all UK employers now have a legal duty to prevent sexual harassment of their workers and create a safe working environment.
This post provides a brief overview of the Worker Protection Act and the preventative measures you, as an employer, must consider.
Employers’ duty to prevent sexual harassment
Following the implementation of the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 (the ‘Worker Protection Act’), employers must take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, including by third parties such as clients and customers.
This preventative duty requires employers to proactively assess risk, identify any appropriate action, and carry out regular reviews of their processes. They must not wait until sexual harassment happens. If it has already happened, the employer must take action to prevent it from happening again.
Prior to this change in the law, employers were not legally obligated to take proactive measures to prevent sexual harassment of workers in the course of their employment.
Commenting on the changes to legislation, Baroness Kishwer Falkner, Chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said:
“Sexual harassment continues to be widespread and often under-reported. Everyone has a right to feel safe and supported at work.
The new preventative duty … aims to improve workplace cultures by requiring employers to proactively protect their workers from sexual harassment.
Employers will need to take reasonable steps to safeguard their workers. We have updated our guidance to ensure they understand their obligations and the kinds of steps they can take.
We will be monitoring compliance with the new duty and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where necessary.”
What are “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment?
The Worker Protection Act doesn’t specify what reasonable steps an employer should take. However, the updated technical guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) recommends implementing the following 8 practical actions to prevent and deal with sexual harassment in the workplace:
- Develop and widely communicate a robust anti-harassment policy, which includes third-party sexual harassment.
- Be proactively aware of what’s happening in the workplace and any warning signs, by engaging with staff through one-to-ones, surveys, and exit interviews.
- Undertake regular risk assessments in the workplace to identify where sexual harassment may occur and the steps that will be taken to prevent it.
- Consider using a reporting system (e.g. an online or independent phone-based service) that allows workers to raise issues either anonymously or in name.
- Ensure all workers (including managers and senior staff) receive training on what sexual harassment in the workplace looks like, what to do if they experience or witness it, and how to handle complaints of harassment. Doing so will help employers create the right culture.
- Act immediately to resolve any sexual harassment complaints.
- Treat harassment by third parties just as seriously as harassment by colleagues, ensuring risk assessments and reporting mechanisms are in place.
- Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the steps taken and actions implemented.
The EHRC’s guidance also states that reasonable steps will vary from employer to employer, depending on variables such as:
- size and resources of the employer
- nature of the working environment
- sector in which the employer operates
- risks present in that particular workplace
- nature of any contact with third parties
- likely effect of taking a particular step, and whether an alternative step may be more effective
- time, cost, and potential disruption of taking a particular step, weighed against the potential benefit of doing so
- any previous concerns raised by workers
- effectiveness of any previous steps taken
To ensure compliance, we recommend reading the EHRC’s updated technical guidance for employers on preventing sexual harassment and the Acas guide to creating a sexual harassment policy. These comprehensive resources also explain the behaviour employers need to address and how to handle complaints.
Failing to comply with the Worker Protection Act
By law, employers have a duty of care towards their employees’ health, safety, and well-being at work. As such, failing to comply with the requirements of the Worker Protection Act is an offence.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has the power to take enforcement action against any employer who fails to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment—even where no incident of sexual harassment has taken place.
Furthermore, if any employment tribunal determines that an employee has been sexually harassed, the employer may have to pay an additional 25% (maximum uplift) in compensation if the preventative duty has not been met.
While an employee cannot bring a claim against their employer for failing in the preventative duty, breaches of this duty will automatically be examined during an employment tribunal for sexual harassment.
Thanks for reading
We hope you’ve found this post informative. If you’re an employer and need help or advice on your new duties under the Worker Protection Act, you can contact the Acas helpline or get tailored support for your organisation.
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