New sexual harassment prevention duty for employers

From October 2024, the law in respect of sexual harassment is changing. A new duty will be imposed on employer’s to actively prevent sexual harassment at work.

Sexual harassment, as defined by s26 Equality Act 2010, is “unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of violating the victims’ dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.”

What are the implications for employers who fail to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace? If there is a complete failure to prevent it, the claim will likely succeed at an Employment Tribunal, and the employer may face an increase in compensation of up to 25% – a significant rise and a substantial financial penalty.

However, if an employer has taken some reasonable steps to prevent harassment, they remain liable for the harassment, but will hopefully avoid the 25% compensation increase. If an employer takes all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment, a defence against the claim is possible.

This means a dusty policy that is handed out at induction, which often goes unread amidst a heap of other documents, is unlikely to cut the mustard. Employers will need to be far more proactive in ensuring that staff are protected from harassment, a process that will likely be continuous throughout employment and constantly evolving.