The Treasury Committee has published a response from the Treasury and regulators to its report on sexual harassment and bullying in the financial services sector.
In the report, entitled Sexism in the City, MPs found a ‘shocking’ prevalence of sexism and misogyny and a culture which is ‘holding back women’.
The Committee concluded progress was moving at a ‘snail’s pace’ and called for a number of changes to existing workplace practices. One reform put forward was a total ban on the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in all harassment cases.
In its response, the Government highlights action they have taken in preventing the use of NDAs in other sectors and says an NDA would ‘most likely’ be unenforceable when related to reporting a crime to the police. They do not commit to taking forward the Committee’s recommendation.
The Committee also recommended stronger protections for sexual harassment whistleblowers, a ban on prospective employers asking for salary history and a legal requirement to include salary bands on job adverts.
The Government confirmed they are continuing to review the whistleblowing framework with a view to understanding how it can be improved.
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