Sexual harassment legislation 2024
Guidance to adhere to the new legislation
New legislation
In July 2021, the Government launched a consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace. As part of the consultation, a public questionnaire was sent out, which revealed that 54% of the 4215 respondents had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Additionally, the Crime Survey for England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics found that the workplace was the second most common place that people experienced sexual harassment, only being topped by experiencing sexual harassment in a public space. The results of the consultation indicated that employers should have a duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. As a result, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act) 2023 was passed and came into force on 26 October 2024.
The Act stipulates that employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace from both other employees and third parties (e.g. customers, clients, and patients). Employers may also have to pay an increased amount of compensation following an employment tribunal if the individual’s claim of sexual harassment is successful.
The Act does not list specific actions employers should take, so we’ve put together some guidance on actions employers could take to adhere to the new legislation.
Review your policies
Your policies relating to sexual harassment may need updating to reflect the new legislation.
A good policy should:
Clearly state what sexual harassment is and explain the different ways it can manifest in the workplace
Stress that sexual harassment is unlawful and will not be tolerated
State that perpetrators of sexual harassment will face disciplinary action
Clearly detail how to make a report if an employee experiences or witnesses sexual harassment
Provide details on how reports will be handled
Tip
Ensure that you review your policy regularly and monitor its effectiveness.
Get everyone involved
Sexual harassment is everyone’s problem and staff members should all feel responsible for addressing it. Therefore, all members of staff should attend mandatory training sessions on sexual harassment.
The sessions should include the following information:
What sexual harassment in the workplace looks like. Provide specific examples that are relevant to your workplace
Discuss your sexual harassment policy
Give guidance on what to do if someone witnesses or experiences sexual harassment
Detail the reporting procedure and provide information on possible outcomes
Provide training for managers on how to handle complaints of sexual harassment
Consider your workplace culture
The Act places a strong emphasis on taking preventative actions to avoid sexual harassment occurring in the workplace, not just addressing it when it happens. Part of preventing sexual harassment is understanding your workplace culture to see if there are any factors that might increase the risk of sexual harassment occurring.
You can collect information about your workplace culture in a number of ways:
Running staff surveys
Conducting focus groups
Holding regular one-to-one sessions
Undertaking exit interviews
Once you have gathered all the information about your workplace culture, it is important to address any factors that are likely to increase the prevalence of sexual harassment (such as overt sexism). It should be made clear to all employees that your organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment in the workplace. Your sexual harassment policy should be easily accessible and the consequences of breaching the policy should be communicated to all members of staff. Your workplace culture should be measured regularly to evaluate the effectiveness of your policy.
In the know
Your sexual harassment policy should be clear, accessible and easy to find. The policy should clearly outline how to make a report if a member of staff has experienced or witnessed sexual harassment. Be transparent about what happens when a report is filed and what actions will likely be taken. It should be explicitly communicated that third party sexual harassment is taken as seriously as if the perpetrator is a colleague. Guidance on how to respond to third party sexual harassment should be provided. Consider providing an anonymous reporting mechanism for those who do not want to be identified.
All managers should know what to do when a report of sexual harassment is made.
These actions should include:
Acting immediately to resolve the complaint
Respecting all parties’ confidentiality
Protecting the victim from further harassment. This might include moving perpetrators to a different team
Ensuring witnesses are supported and do not fear retaliation
If the sexual harassment constitutes a criminal offence, discuss whether the victim would like to report it to the police
Avoiding the use of confidentiality clauses (such as non-disclosure agreements) unless it necessary and appropriate to do so
Ensuring the outcome of the report is clearly communicated to all parties involved
Encourage allyship
Consider appointing a workplace champion who will act as a contact for those wanting to raise an issue or file a report.
Having a workplace champion has many benefits including:
Giving members of staff the opportunity to discuss any issues informally and in confidence
Encouraging everyone to take sexual harassment seriously, including those in positions of authority
The champion being recognised as a point-of-contact
The champion may be able to identify any factors in the organisation that are increasing the prevalence of sexual harassment that might not be shown in formal reports
The champion may choose to undertake activities to raise awareness about sexual harassment
Monitor and evaluate your actions
It is vital to monitor and evaluate the steps you have taken to prevent sexual harassment and assess if the changes have been effective.
Here are some of the ways you can measure whether the actions you’ve taken have been effective:
Review all formal complaints to see whether there are any particular trends in behaviour that are not being addressed
Send out regular, anonymous pulse surveys to staff members in order to gauge the prevalence and type of sexual misconduct that is happening
Compare the formal complaints with the survey data to understand if there are instances of sexual harassment that are not being reported formally
Review policies and training regularly. If a policy needs updating, ask staff members to contribute to the policy design so that the policy is co-created
When monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the steps you’ve taken to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, remember to make any required changes swiftly and transparently to reassure staff members that the issue is being seriously.
Source: This guidance has been informed by and adapted from The EHRC ‘8-step guide’ for preventing sexual harassment at work
