Following significant changes to the law in October 2024, it has never been more crucial for employers to know how to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are now under a mandatory legal duty to prevent sexual harassment from occurring and can face paying significantly more compensation to employees who bring successful sexual harassment claims if they fail to comply with this duty.
Here, our HR and employment law specialists provide a brief overview of how to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace. However, no clearly defined rules apply, and the steps you should take to comply with your legal obligations are unique to you. They depend on several factors, such as the nature of your business and its resources. Accordingly, to ensure you fully understand how to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, it is important to seek guidance from experts like us. We will assess your business to identify any specific risks and advise on the steps you should take to mitigate them and be legally compliant.
Call us now on 01491 598 600 or Click Here to Make An Enquiry and we will be delighted to help you.
Your Duty To Prevent Sexual Harassment From Occurring
Employers have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to combat sexual harassment in their workplace. What is ‘reasonable’ in this context depends on the individual business. For example, larger employers with more extensive resources are expected to do more than smaller ones whose resources are limited.
Examples of the steps you might take to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace include the following:
• Implement An Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy
Developing and implementing an anti-sexual harassment policy is an essential step in complying with your new legal duty. If you already have a policy of this nature in place, you should review it to check it goes far enough.
Your policy should make it clear that sexual harassment is unlawful and will not be tolerated in your workplace. You should detail the types of behaviour that can constitute sexual harassment and spell out the consequences for anyone found to have sexually harassed another person.
You should ensure that your policy is widely communicated to all relevant individuals.
• Carry Out A Risk Assessment
Risk assessments are a key aspect of any effective anti-sexual harassment strategy. You must identify the risks inherent in your sector and business so you can take reasonable steps to mitigate them.
You should carefully consider how you can assess the risks. In addition to making use of your own experience of your business and its culture, you might choose to draw on your employees’ experience, for example, through surveys, exit interviews, and complaint records.
• Training
Ensuring your employees understand how to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace is vital. One of the best ways to communicate your business’s policy on the matter is through regular training.
Your training should focus on the risks inherent in your business. During your training sessions, you should describe the types of behaviour that constitute sexual harassment and reiterate your zero-tolerance approach. You should encourage a culture in which your employees feel confident in speaking up if they have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment. You must ensure everyone understands how to make a complaint of sexual harassment and reassure employees that all complaints will be handled with sensitivity and respect.
What To Do If You Receive A Complaint
All sexual harassment complaints must be responded to as swiftly as possible. You should undertake a thorough, impartial investigation during which you hear evidence from both sides together with any witness accounts. You should provide appropriate support to everyone involved in the complaint, with the help of external agencies where necessary.
You should keep all parties updated on the progress of your investigation to reassure them that you are handling it as a priority. Once you have made a decision regarding the complaint, you should communicate that decision to everyone affected by it and ensure any necessary follow-up action is carried out swiftly and efficiently.
You should monitor complaints regularly to identify any recurring themes, which you should then tackle as part of your duty to prevent sexual harassment.
If you are unsure how to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace or need support with any other HR or employment law issue, our expert team is on hand to help. Offering straightforward advice with a commercial focus, we are proud to be the go-to HR advisors for countless small businesses like yours throughout the UK.
Call us now on 01491 598 600 or Click Here to Make An Enquiry and we will be delighted to help you.
