New Sex Harassment Laws for Employers and their Customers - Winter 2023
- qedworks1
- May 15, 2023
- 2 min read
New legislation being considered by Parliament will involve protecting your staff against sexual harassment from third parties such as customers!
It creates new legal liabilities for employers by treating an employer as harassing their employee if the employee is harassed in the course of their employment by third parties (such as customers or clients) and the employer fails “to take all reasonable steps to prevent the third party from doing so”.
It also creates a new corresponding duty on employers to “take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment” of their employees in the course of their employment.
QED have already delivered training courses on the new law. Participants attending will:-
Gain a robust understanding of the new legislation.
Develop policies and procedures to support the implementation of the regulations.
Have the skills to risk assess and audit current performance in house and throughout their supply chain.
Be acutely aware of the steps they must take to ensure that staff, clients/customers are well aware of their specific responsibilities and potential liabilities.
Understand the tangible links with other types of harassment as defined in the Equality Act
Fully appreciate that other civil and criminal laws can be invoked by a victim of harassment including those dealing with health, safety & well-being as well as “hate crimes” or those dealing with incitement and/or personal injury.
Know where to obtain further advice, information and support.
McDonald’s Restaurants Limited has signed a legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in response to concerns about the handling of sexual harassment complaints made by staff in its UK restaurants. See the link below.
McDonald’s Restaurants Limited has committed to:
communicating a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment
conducting an anonymous survey of workers about workplace safety
enhancing policies and procedures to prevent sexual harassment and improve responses to complaints.
delivering anti-harassment training for employees
introducing specific training and materials to help managers identify areas of risk within their restaurants and take steps to prevent sexual harassment.
supporting the uptake of policy and training materials by franchisees within their independent organisations to support reporting of sexual harassment.
monitoring progress towards a safe, respectful and inclusive working environment
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