Companies must put new measures in place to proactively protect their employees from sexual harassment due to changes in the law, says a leading HR & employment law firm.

Under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 employers will have a new duty to take positive steps to protect their workers from sexual harassment and take preventative action against it, or face financial penalties or even action from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Precept’s Senior Associate Philip Pearson-Batt says firms should be undertaking risk assessments related to sexual harassment before the law comes into place later this month, and regularly reviewing and updating them on an ongoing basis.

He also suggests company policies and procedures should be brought up to date, with a clear and comprehensive set of guidelines on what constitutes sexual harassment, where and when it might occur and the steps that firms will take to prevent it from happening. It’s also really important that everybody understands that sexual harassment may come from a third-party and that appropriate action should still be taken to deal with this.

He said: “As we enter this last quarter of the year there are some really big changes on the horizon that we at Precept think every business owner needs to be aware of.

“Under the new legislation there is a new and positive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of their workers – a shift from preventative to proactive duties.

“No employer, regardless of their size or the nature of the work they undertake, is exempt from this, so it is vitally important we’re all fully aware of what is expected.”

If a worker succeeds in bringing a claim for sexual harassment at an employment tribunal, compensation could be increased by 25% if the employer is found to have breached this new positive duty.

firms should also invest in tailored, regular and comprehensive training of staff so that they understand what sexual harassment is and what they should be doing to address or raise concerns about it.

And Philip recommends that senior leaders and managers should make clear there is a zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment and that where concerns are raised they are dealt with appropriately.

He added: “It is vital to create a workplace culture where your workers feel able to come and talk to you about potential acts of sexual harassment and it goes without saying that this should come from the top down.

“Be mindful of signs or symptoms of sexual harassment. For example, has somebody’s conduct at work suddenly changed? Are they taking more time off work? If you spot these sorts of changes in your workers, then try to get to the bottom of what is going on.

“And if you are ever in doubt there is help out there. A good starting place is the Equality and Human Rights Commission website which has very detailed guidance on how to comply with this new duty.”