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Notebook and Fountain Pen

Our Duty as Employers to Prevent Sexual Harassment at Work

hrbytara

On 26 Oct 2024, there’s a change in law coming into force that reinforces the need for employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work. Now is a good time to reflect on what you may need to start doing differently within your workplace.

It’s nearly 50 years since the Sex Discrimination Act became law in 1975. Almost all of us, if we did a “Life on Mars” style trip back in time, would find ourselves appalled by the behaviour in the workplace that was considered acceptable then, or that people turned a blind eye to at least. We like to think that times have changed.

However, in a TUC survey from 2023, 58% of women stated that they’d experienced sexual harassment at work. So it looks like there’s still a lot of progress to be made and we might all need to take a step back and review how we can do better at preventing harassment at work.

Although employers already have a duty to protect their employees from harassment, the law relating to sexual harassment is being strengthened this year. You will now have a clear duty take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of your employees in the course of their employment. This includes preventing potential harassment by managers, by colleagues and also by customers, suppliers and anyone else your employees have to work with. We can no longer simply be reactive to situations, the onus is on us as employers to proactively take preventative measures.

Half of women (52%) aged 18 to 34 say they have experienced harassment from a third party at work, so make sure you’re thinking about all the people your staff come into contact with and how you can do your best to protect them.

So, as a small employer what should you be doing?

This advice relates to preventing harassment in general, not just sexual harassment. It’s also based on a straightforward approach to good people management.

  • Understand your own context - think about the situations and scenarios that your team members may find themselves in and assess the potential risks

  • Set clear expectations - positively describe what respecting your colleagues looks like

  • Set clear rules about what's not acceptable in the workplace and then don’t tolerate it

  • Communicate to third parties (customers, suppliers, members of the public, etc.) that you won’t tolerate harassment or bullying of your staff and then take action if you see any

  • Encourage managers to be alert and to speak to people if their behaviour is out of line - raise the smaller stuff and nip it in the bud, rather than waiting for something big to happen

  • Encourage staff to speak up if anything happens that makes them feel uncomfortable, and make sure you listen and respond appropriately when they do speak up

  • Provide training for managers on how to deal with concerning situations constructively - the same skills are useful across lots of different areas of management

If you don’t know where to start or don’t have the time to work through some of this yourself, then feel free to contact the HR by Tara team. We’re always happy to chat about this sort of thing.

We’ll be running a training session for business owners and managers in the first week of October. If you’re interested in attending then email events@hrbytara.com. We’re also putting together a toolkit for small businesses that will be available from early October. We’ll communicate more details shortly.

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