All Employers in the UK have a legal duty to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. This change in legislation which came into force last October and demonstrates a significant shift from ‘reactive’ to ‘proactive’ measures, as the new Act places a duty upon employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace upfront, rather than just dealing with a complaint if and when it arises.  

If an employer fails to take action in response to complaints, the employer itself could be found to have harassed the employee if the failure to act was because of a protected characteristic such as their sex.  For example, trivialising a female employee’s complaints about sexual harassment and taking no action to prevent it, could in itself amount to harassment. This is known as “vicarious liability” 

Employees who have been subjected to harassment may be able to bring a constructive dismissal claim against their employer, if they resign and claim that the employer’s failure to protect them amounts to a breach of contract. An employer could also be liable for negligence if the employee suffered mental and/or physical injury because of harassment by the employee that the employer could reasonably have foreseen and prevented or reduced the amount of harassment/mental or physical damage.  

Employers should ensure that they continue to take all reasonably practicable steps to prevent any harassment of employees, and this would include conducting a risk assessment and regular training for employees, and in particular your managers, to prevent sexual harassment. 

How can we help? 

We can conduct an audit to identify the risks of Sexual Harassment in your business, and provide you with recommendations to reduce or eliminate those risks, helping you to implement our recommendations if required.  

Or to ensure you are meeting your legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment from happening in the first place, you should book managers and employees onto a Meraki HR Training session on How to prevent Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. 

Get in touch with us for further information via help@merakihr.com or BOOK A CALL