The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has recently published further guidance to assist employers in complying with the new duty to prevent sexual harassment. This duty mandates employers to proactively take “reasonable steps” to prevent the sexual harassment of employees.
The newly released guidance includes a checklist, action plan and monitoring log, which are designed to complement existing HR policies aimed at preventing sexual harassment. Although the checklist was originally designed for employers in the hospitality sector and includes references to “shifts”, the EHRC has stated that it can be adapted to suit other sectors and workplaces. It is also important to note that this new guidance supplements both the existing EHRC technical guidance and the EHRC’s recommended eight-step approach which illustrates the types of measures that employers can undertake to prevent sexual harassment (which we have written about here).
Checklist
The checklist highlights three main areas of preventative measures for employers to consider:
- communicating with staff: how to promote a culture of zero tolerance and let your staff know you take sexual harassment seriously;
- changing the working environment: controlling the physical and social environment that people are working in to make it as safe as possible; and
- working practices: policies and procedures to make sure you know when sexual harassment happens and how it is dealt with.
The checklist is designed to help employers assess their current practices and identify areas that need improvement. It includes suggested actions and working practices, which of course should be adapted to suit the specific needs of the organisation and workplace.
Additionally, the checklist includes questions for employers to consider as part of their duty to prevent sexual harassment, such as:
- Have you made sure that people who have control over staff hours and incentives do not abuse this power?
- Have you made sure that there are clear ways for staff to report sexual harassment and that they know who they can go to on their shift?
- Do you know what to do if staff (including agency staff) come to you with an incident?
- Have you made sure that all staff know what they should do and who they should go to if they are sexually harassed?
- Have you made staff aware that if sexual harassment happens, even after a shift or during a social event, they might still be legally responsible for legal action?
- Have you reviewed if and where there have been incidents and thought about what you can do to stop them happening again in the future?
Action plan
The guidance recommends that organisations draft a comprehensive action plan, which records the specific actions that need to occur to integrate the checklist into the standard working practice of the organisation. Example actions include reviewing and updating existing policies (such as sexual harassment policies) and providing staff with training to ensure they know how to respond if sexual harassment occurs. Additionally, organisations should consider who will be responsible for using the checklist, and ensure that these individuals are trained on how to use it and the importance of maintaining accurate records of any incidents.
Monitoring log
The guidance also provides template monitoring logs which are designed to help organisations track the implementation of the checklist. The first log is intended for regular use, and to monitor how the checklist is being used and record any necessary changes to the organisations’ approach. The second log is more in-depth, and is to be completed quarterly to record and assess the effectiveness of the actions taken by the organisation.
We recommend that care is taken when maintaining such a log that this is done with data protection and confidentiality in mind, with information being anonymised as appropriate.
Overall
Employers should thoroughly review this additional guidance and integrate it into their organisational practices. Doing so not only reduces the risk of sexual harassment and promotes a safe and respectful workplace but ensures compliance with the new duty. Organisations should be aware that employment tribunals are likely to refer to the guidance when considering the scope of the duty and will have the power to increase compensation in successful sexual harassment claims by up to 25% if the duty has not been complied with.
For further information on the new duty to prevent sexual harassment, please also see our previous posts – here and here.
