Preventing sexual harassment
From 26 October 2024, employers in the UK come under a new positive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent workplace sexual harassment. This new duty applies to all employers regardless of size or sector. The UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published guidance which recommends, among other things, that:
- employers conduct a risk assessment to identify where
harassment is most likely to occur in their workplace;
- employers have clear and detailed policies on sexual harassment
with examples relevant to their workforce;
- employers provide regular training for staff covering how to
raise concerns and, for managers, how to handle complaints;
and
- in their preventative measures, employers address the risk of harassment of staff by third parties such as customers, clients and suppliers.
Businesses that fail to take adequate steps could face increased compensation in sexual harassment claims and/or enforcement action by the EHRC.
Changes to employment law
Employers can expect significant reforms to UK employment law under plans outlined by the new UK Government. A new Employment Rights Bill and an Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will introduce changes in a number of areas. Some of the key changes include:
- Unfair dismissal: the qualifying period for
unfair dismissal claims will be removed. Currently employees need
two years' service (in most cases) before they can bring unfair
dismissal claims but the Government plans to make this a "day
one" right. Employers would still be able to dismiss during
probationary periods, but it is not yet clear how this will work in
practice or how long probationary periods could be.
- Flexible working: all roles will be made
flexible by default with employers required to accommodate this as
far as is reasonable. Currently employees have a right to request
flexible working, but employers can refuse such requests on
prescribed business grounds. Employers are likely to see more
flexible working requests and will have a higher burden to justify
refusing such requests.
- Diversity reporting: employers with 250 or
more employees would be required to report annually on the
disability and ethnicity pay gaps within their workforce. Large
employers would also be required to publish gender pay gap action
plans on top of the existing gender pay gap reporting
requirements.
- "Exploitative" practices: the Government will ban "exploitative" zero hours contracts that offer workers no guaranteed minimum hours and will give workers the right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work. The use of "fire and rehire" to change terms and conditions of employment will also be severely restricted.
For more about the Government's plans and what they mean for employers, please see our briefing Employment Law under Labour or our webinar Employment under Labour: preparing for change.
Keeping you on track with regulatory change
Catch up on the latest employment and business immigration developments by reading or listening to our latest Employment Update.
Our In the Pipeline timeline guides you through forthcoming developments in UK employment law and business immigration.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
