New Employment Legislation Sexual Harassment Prevention 

Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace – new legislation effective 26th October 2024. ACT NOW! 

What is the new sexual harassment legislation? 

The new legislation makes it a mandatory duty for employers to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment. This is a change from previously encouraged preventative measures to a requirement to have taken reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. 
 
The penalties for not doing this as an employer could be significant – if an employee wins a sexual harassment claim and the employer is found to have neglected their duty to take reasonable prevention steps, the compensation awarded may be increased by up to 25%. As there is no upper limit on compensation for discriminatory harassment, these awards could be large. 

What should employers do now? Take action! 

Employers need to take ‘reasonable steps’ now to proactively prevent sexual harassment in their workplace. For SMEs, we are recommending the following actions: 
Policies. A review of key policies including your Bullying & Harassment Policy, Equal Opportunities Policy, Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. Some small businesses may not currently have a Harassment Policy in place, and we recommend that you put one in place asap. 
Training – Employees. We recommend that all employees attend mandatory training sessions to ensure everyone understands what the business expectations are for everyone’s conduct and particularly recognising, preventing, and reporting sexual harassment. 
Training – Managers. Mandatory training so they understand expectations of them as leaders in the organisation, as well as spotting issues and understanding next steps if a complaint is raised. 
Leadership commitment. Role modelling expected behaviours and as a business consciously regularly reviewing your workplace environment, culture, and practices to identify and address potential risks of harassment, including from 3rd parties (clients, suppliers). 

Harassment Prevention Package 

We have developed a standalone harassment prevention package to support you in meeting your statutory responsibilities. The one-off cost of this package is £750 + VAT (20% reduction for charities). Our package includes: 
Policy templates for Bullying & Harassment, Equal opportunities, Disciplinary and Grievance updated to reflect the new legislation 
1 hour call with an HR Consultant to complete a risk assessment for your business and discuss how you will monitor and track your actions and progress. 
Employee training video – you can use this with your existing employees and whenever you have a new starter to the business. 
Line manager training video – to support your managers to understand what is expected of them in their role. 
Get in touch using the form below to discuss this package more... 

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