You may be concerned that the government is rolling the pitch to make employees and employers aware of a whole raft of new employment measures to be introduced over the next few months. You should be! The government is set on a path to change fundamentally the relationship between employer and employee tilting the balance back towards the employee. However at present there is no timetable defining how and when these proposals will be introduced and what final form they will take.
There is one new regulation legislated by the previous government which will come into effect in October this will require employers of any size to take reasonable proactive action to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. What is reasonable will based on the resources of the employer larger companies will be expected to take more steps than smaller ones.
Sex is one of the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act. Sexual harassment is explained in the act as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that violates someone’s dignity or creates an intimidating environment. The new regulation sets out to protect all workers irrespective of their sexual orientation from sexual harassment in the work place.
How an employer can comply with the new regulation will depend on guidance to be issued by the equality and human rights commission (EHRC) which is promised by September, cutting it fine!
Even without the guidance there are actions a responsible employer who should take today to minimize harassment and when it has taken place to stop it from reoccurring.
They are
review their current bullying and harassment policy to make sure sexual harassment is highlighted as an unacceptable action.
Let all staff know that zero tolerance is the default position when complaints are made.
Set out a clear process so that staff know how to make complaints.
Continually train all supervisors and managers to recognize what constitutes sexual harassment
If an employee feels the company is not taking this seriously they can bring it to the attention of the EHRC who in turn can take action with the employer and support the employee in any tribunal proceedings taken by the employee. If the tribunal finds against the employer in a discrimination it can uplift the remedy by upto 25% if they the employer has taken insufficient cation to address the issue.