New government proposals will force employers to publish sexual harassment plans, or face being publicly named and shamed.
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010 ) Act 2023 introduced as a new statutory obligation on 26 October 2024. This made employers legally responsible for preventing sexual harassment in the workplace, both by their colleagues and other third parties.
Businesses could now publish annual action plans in order to reduce the risk of sexual harassment at work.
GQ Littler, in highlighting the proposals, warned that extra red tape would be difficult to navigate and likely to cost businesses time and money.
A specialist employment law firm has said that they will add to the obligations on employers imposed by the new legislation, which requires employers to conduct risk assessments in order to prevent sexual harassment.
The government proposes in its impact assessment of the Employment Rights Bill that companies with more than 250 workers should publish and produce their annual action plan to prevent sexual harassment, and that this would be “good practise”.
The document recommends, in addition, that employers who do not publish plans be included on a list of “name and shame”.
Natasha Adom is the partner and head client training at GQ Littler. She told Personnel Today “If the new proposals go through as planned, employers with more than 250 employees will have to produce action plans that explain the steps they take to reduce the risk sexual harassment, but also publicly publish them.” Businesses that do not comply will likely be publicly shamed and named on the gender pay reporting site.”
She added that employers must prepare for the new requirements now. “Risk assessments are dynamic – employers need to review their steps periodically and reassess them if there is an incident of sexual misconduct.”
The firm said that failing to comply with the Equality Act could result in serious reputational damage. It also highlighted that the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Equality Act’s regulator, has taken recent enforcement actions against large employers.
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