How the New Worker Protection Act Will Impact Your Business This October
Everything You Need to Know for October 2024
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 comes into force in October 2024 and will change how employers deal with sexual harassment in the workplace. Under this new Act, employers will have to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment and if they don’t they could face increased compensation claims of up to 25% if found to be in breach of this duty.
Individuals who experience sexual harassment can face serious mental and professional repercussions.
In this blog post, we will walk you through the changes introduced by the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 and help you as a business owner understand your responsibilities to prevent sexual harassment at work. It’s important to get to grips with these new requirements to protect your employees and be compliant with the upcoming legislation.
What is Sexual Harassment?
Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which undermines a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Note the intent behind the conduct is not relevant if it has this effect. For example inappropriate jokes, intrusive questions, propositions, sexually explicit messages or images, sexual comments, and inappropriate physical contact all fall into this definition. Even if the harasser didn’t mean to cause distress the impact on the individual is the main concern.
Current Employer Obligations
Employers are not allowed to harass employees or treat them unfairly because of how they respond to that harassment. Employers are vicariously liable for the acts of sexual harassment and other unwanted behaviour committed by their employees in the course of their employment. But there is a defence if the employer can prove they took ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent the harassment. In practice many employers don’t rely on this defence unless the conduct is clearly out of their control, which has been criticised as not being enough incentive to put in place preventative measures.
The New Duty
The new legislation introduces a positive duty on employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ for preventing sexual harassment at work in all cases. Unlike the current framework where preventative measures are considered in defence, this new duty requires proactive action. This duty doesn’t create a new claim but will be considered by tribunals in sexual harassment claims.
Also, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will have more powers to enforce this new duty. The EHRC can investigate, and enter into binding agreements with employers to address issues and assist individuals with legal proceedings. The Commission can get involved before or after a claim is presented so employers will be held accountable even before legal proceedings start. You can download your FREE step-by-step guide here.
Third Party Harassment: What You Need to Know
There was talk of re-introducing a duty on employers to protect employees from all forms of harassment, including that by third parties such as clients and customers. This form of protection had been legally recognised before but was removed in 2013. The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 introduces a new duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment but doesn’t mention third parties.
The language of the new duty is wide enough to capture third party harassment as it requires employers to prevent sexual harassment of employees without specifying that the perpetrator has to be an employee. However, this duty is not a standalone claim and is only considered in the context of a successful sexual harassment claim so its practical application to third party harassment is unclear. We will have to wait and see if tribunals will consider third party sexual harassment when applying the uplift or if the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will include this in their enforcement actions.
Employers must proactively tackle sexual harassment at work, including third-party harassment, by establishing systematic approaches and collaborating with stakeholders to prioritise prevention.
At the moment employers are only liable for third party sexual harassment if they fail to protect their employees because of a protected characteristic or if it’s a breach of health and safety duties. For example if the risk of third party harassment is foreseeable and the employer has not provided a safe working environment this could be seen as a breach of health and safety duties.
Employers could still be liable for how they handle harassment situations if it’s an unlawful act in itself. Although the specific duty to prevent third party sexual harassment is not re-introduced employers must still be aware and address any issues that arise to avoid legal consequences.
How We Can Support Your Business Through Change?
Need help navigating the new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 – changes to sexual harassment in the workplace? At Park City Consulting we offer a range of HR services to help you stay compliant and address internal and external harassment:
Policy Updates
- Review and update your policies to ensure you comply with the new legislation.
- Draft policies on the new duty to prevent sexual harassment and other changes.
- Review and update policies on workplace relationships, considering the implications and potential consequences when they break down.
Management Training
- Train managers on how to handle and prevent sexual harassment.
- Cover the latest legislation, management training techniques and strategies for a respectful workplace culture.
- Employee Communication
- Help you communicate policy changes to your employees.
- Ensure all staff are informed and know their roles and responsibilities.
On-Demand Resources
- Access our latest insights and best practices through on-demand webinars.
- Topics include new legislation and practical steps to manage workplace harassment.
Anti-Discrimination Policies and Procedures
- Create or review anti-discrimination policies for your organisation.
- Ensure policies include provisions related to sexual orientation.
- Review and advise on anti-discrimination procedures including recruitment and promotion practices.
Disciplinary Processes
- Review disciplinary procedures to ensure they include broader recommendations for handling upheld sexual harassment complaints.
Risk Assessments
- Conduct risk assessments and recommend extra steps for your organisation to address potential issues.
Get in touch with our team at Park City to discover our HR Services and learn how we can help you navigate changes to sexual harassment and provide ongoing support and help you create a compliant, safe, and respectful workplace.
