PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT -SOME BUT NOT ALL OF YOU ARE READY FOR OCTOBER 26TH!

Some of you answered "YES " to the two questions we asked in the last newsletter about the new preventative Duty to prevent Sexual Harassment due on October 26th - now eight weeks away!

A reminder about the two questions we asked:-

Have you created a new Preventative Policy on Sexual Harassment?

And have you put Preventative Procedural steps in place?

Some respondents  were not sure and a worrying minority had never heard of the new  Preventative Duty on Sexual Harassment!

We have had though a very good reception in subsequently arranged  training courses and policy days in Preston,  Rochdale, Newcastle and St Helens.

Birmingham and a London assignment follow later this month.

One of our clients working with their staff and stakeholders very helpfully told us what they wanted their tailored training programme to do. It’s a good 7-point model and without revealing details of the client you might want to use our 7 points as a checklist to help you decide if you can deliver your own training programme without assistance.

At the very least, your training needs to leave those you employ and those you serve:

1. With a clear understanding of what harassment is 

2. With a clear statement of required workplace behaviour – including behaviour at work-related social events and in online communications 

3. With an understanding of what is appropriate and what isn’t in ‘grey’ areas such as banter 

4. Knowing what to do if they experience harassment 

5. Knowing what to do if they witness harassment 

6. Knowing what to do if harassment is reported to them 

7. Knowing what the company or organisation will do if they are found to have committed an act of harassment

QED tailor training to the reality of day-to-day life in your place of work. In our work with a food factory recently for example  there was no point  in sharing  lots of shop-based harassment scenarios. The Preventative Duty requires robust risk assessments so obviously anti-harassment training  MUST be aligned closely with specific business operations and the working environment across all pockets of the organisation. A good example of tailored alignment comes from Google  who use interactive e-learning tools with simulations of chatrooms, email exchanges and social media interactions to illustrate how harassment can occur in virtual spaces. We have a free RESPECT guide on protocols that should be in place before, during and after any planned Teams or Zooms event. Get in touch for a copy.The Equality Commission’s Code of Practice covers the importance of thinking about third party harassment. The House of Lords took out the provision but experts say that it is significant that the Code has retained it AND stresses its importance. And remember it is the Commission who will police and enforce the new Preventative Duty. Our advice is to ensure NOW that proactive conversations with and involvement of your third parties and stakeholders is under way. Commission decisions on cases and the new Government’s determination to introduce new equality rights very soon  will almost certainly include a focus on third party harassment. So, go through workplace-specific scenarios and give clear advice to staff on how to deal with any third-party issues that are likely to arise.

For example, if working in shops or restaurants , training on how to handle difficult customers, and signposting where to go for support if an issue arises, will powerfully reinforce any proactive Preventative Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures.

And in terms of Third-Party Harassment there is some case law relating to Racial Harassment. This  was a case of racial harassment that had occurred at a London Mayfair  casino. In summary  the casino racially discriminated against a member of staff by permitting customers NOT to have black dealers at their table. The customer had actually said in very disparaging words we won’t repeat here that he wanted ‘white female dealers only’, which the casino accommodated. The casino defence was  that their managers had received policies on appropriate workplace behaviour, had signed to say they had read and understood them and had received some online training on them.  But the casino defence that they had taken ‘all reasonable steps’ defence to prevent racist behaviour FAILED  because the training provided to managers was generic and not tailored to the business, and its own specific harassment ‘risk points’.

This is the very point of the new Preventative Duty on October 26th. It is PRO ACTIVE and ANTICIPATORY

Get in touch if we can help you with training or policy advice. Training can not only be tailored to your workplace operations but also different cohorts such as senior staff, HR teams and of course the wider body of those you employ and serve.