New legal duty to prevent sexual harassment
From October 2024 there will be a new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
The Worker Protection Act (amendment of Equality Act 2010) will come into force in October 2024 and will change the duty on employers from redress to prevention.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is updating its 2020 technical guidance on sexual harassment in the workplace to help employers to comply with the new duty and understand the law. You can feed into the EHRC consultation on the technical guidance until 6 August 2024. The technical guidance will be published in September 2024.
In advance of the new duty and technical guidance, there are steps that employers can take in advance to prepare. This CIPD article outlines the priority areas to focus on, which include culture change, training and reporting channels.
Other resources
- NHS England has released a charter on sexual safety at work, which asks employers to commit to a zero-tolerance approach to any unwanted, inappropriate and/or harmful sexual behaviours towards our workforce.
- The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) and the Office of the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (CAHPO) have launched three publications aimed at reducing misogyny and improving sexual safety in the ambulance service.
- Learn about NHS Project S, a campaign to improve working conditions in the NHS, focusing on discrimination and workplace safety, and particularly the safety of women working in healthcare.
- Visit the Surviving in Scrubs web page to find out more about their campaign to end sexism, harassment and sexual assault within healthcare.
- Read this blog from Dr Kathy McLean to understand why she believes all NHS boards must sign up to the NHS Sexual Safety Charter.
- In 2023, the BMA launched a pledge to tackle gender discrimination in medicine. This followed a survey that showed a shocking 91 per cent of women doctor respondents in the UK had experienced sexism at work with 42 per cent feeling they could not report it.
- Join the Health and Care Women Leaders Network, a free network for women in the NHS and broader health and social care sector. The network is a diverse community of talented professional women who connect through events, networking and shared learning.
