New Harassment Law – Preventing Harassment at Work

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by Rebecca Lister | 29th Oct 2024

Changes to employment law surrounding Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

From 26 October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, a new harassment law, has come into force, strengthening current protections against sexual harassment and imposing new duties on employers. Beyond this, the Government plans to raise the bar further to require employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment occurring, including preventing harassment by third parties.

While we have long since had stringent regulation surrounding anti-harassment and bullying, it is important to keep up to date with the changes to ensure your organisation is doing what is required to protect your employees. Understanding the employment harassment law, preventing harassment at work changes and what they mean can be tricky, we have therefore put together this handy guide for getting to grips with the changes in law.

The Changes

Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment

The new sexual harassment legislation includes a mandatory requirement for employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. Under previous laws, in response to a claim, employers were only under an obligation to show that “reasonable steps” had been in place to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This new duty requires employers to be proactive and systematic in how they prevent and deal with sexual harassment at work.

There is now a duty on employers to be able to show evidence of reasonable steps taken to prevent sexual harassment. To do so employers should continue to focus on the culture in their organisation; ensuring policies and procedures, training and development, reporting and workplace investigation channels, monitoring and review and people management are in place.

Third-Party Accountability and Sexual Harassment

Previously dropped from an earlier draft of the legislation, the Government has committed to re-introducing the duty for employers to protect employees from third party harassment. This is a more stringent requirement and may require employment policy changes to ensure your organisation remains legally compliant in future.

Third-party harassment refers to any sexual harassment by someone who a worker interacts with as part of their job but who is not employed by the same employer. This can include customers, suppliers or agency workers for example.

Sexual Harassment and Whistleblowing

In recent years the Young Women’s Trust has reported that 1 in 4 young women are reluctant to report workplace sexual harassment due to fear of losing their job. Under the Government’s proposed significant changes, employees who report sexual harassment in the workplace will be given greater protections.

Automatically treating those that report sexual harassment as whistleblowers, will prevent employers from dismissing them, hopefully giving victims greater confidence to come forward and report incidences.

What This Means For You

The new legislation and proposed further changes by the Government are likely to require changes to your current policies but there are many additional things you can do as a preventative duty. Reviewing your current policies surrounding anti-harassment and bullying is a great way to ensure your organisation stays compliant and both you and your employees are protected. Training management to proactively and effectively deal with any issues, as well as carrying out risk assessments, can also be another great way to ensure you are prepared for both new and upcoming changes.

Additionally, with the introduction of the new harassment law, now is the time to build awareness and encourage compliance to prevent sexual harassment and unwanted conduct in the workplace. Think about how you can educate your workforce on understanding what sexual harassment is and the steps to be taken to prevent it with new guidance. At the end of the day, looking to prevent sexual harassment should be a key priority of any organisation.

If you do require any HR advice and support around the new and forthcoming changes or to discuss any other employment related matter, including introducing a preventing sexual harassment policy feel free to contact us.

How Can We Help with the New Guidance?

As these legal reforms take shape, we understand that navigating compliance can feel complex. Here at Eclipse HR, we are best positioned to help you navigate this period of transition. We are dedicated to helping you proactively address these changes, whether by updating your policies, implementing new training modules, or conducting compliance audits tailored to your industry.

By providing you with HR support, you will understand your position in light of the new changes, because our expert HR consultants have years of experience in dealing with such matters across a variety of sectors and keep up to date on any forthcoming employment law changes.

In light of the wide-scale anticipated reforms the new Government is planning to introduce, we are offering clients a review of their employment contract and HR handbook at a discounted rate.

Together, we can build a safer and more inclusive workplace environment that not only meets but exceeds legislative requirements, positioning your organisation as a leader in workplace safety, dignity and respect.

To find out how we can help, Get in Touch.