Law is ‘big step forward’ in preventing sexual harassment

A new law will create a requirement that employers prevent sexual harassment from happening in their workplaces.

The Worker Protection Bill will become law before the end of the year after passing its final stage in the House of Commons. The new legislation creates a cultural shift from one of redressing the issue of harassment to one of preventing it in the first place.

Employers will need to ensure they have clear policies, training, and proper impartial investigations in place to deal with harassment and will be liable for harassment at an Employment Tribunal if they fail to meet their duties.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission will also be able to take enforcement action against employers who breach this duty.

However, the government dropped its 2021 commitment to introduce third party protections. These would create a similar onus on employers to protect their staff from harassment at the hands of third parties, like customers or patients.

Chief executive of the Fawcett Society gender equality charity, Jemima Olchawski, said the slew of recent high-profile sexual harassment cases “shows it is rife in our workplaces. It’s hard to believe that women have had to put up with this for so long, but it ends now.”

She described the Bill as “a big step forward”. However, the organisation said it was reiterating its commitment to the fight to see third party protections put in place.