Employers will have additional responsibility to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace from 26th October. This includes engaging in training, process and policy reviews, third-party facing mechanisms, and appropriate reporting processes.
Failing to actively prevent sexual harassment in the workplace will result in a 25% increased financial compensation for victims in cases taken to Employment Tribunal.
Why is this sexual harassment in the workplace a timely topic?
I’m sure we can all agree that sexual harassment has no place in life full stop, let alone in the workplace.
But it happens. Far too often.
A new report by McKinsey and LeanIn shows that sexual harassment is just as prevalent now, in 2024, than in 2018.
In 2018, 35 percent of women reported experiencing at least one form of sexual harassment in the workplace, according to the report, published this week. This year, that portion is 37 percent. Of course, people of all genders experience sexual harassment, and the changes to the Worker’s Protection Act (WPA) equally covers all people regardless of gender.
We can also guarantee that there are far more experiences of sexual harassment than those we see through these statistics. A lack of psychological safety to speak out, a lack of understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment, and internalised guilt all affect reporting rates and should be taken seriously.
Our work shows consistently that any workplace inclusion issue such as micro aggressions, pay inequality, or in this case, sexual harassment, tends to happen more frequently to people in minoritised groups.
So what should you do?
As employers, leaders, and practitioners it is important that you prepare for the changes to the WPA, and fulfil the responsibility to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment.
Here are 5 recommendations to get you started:
- Understand: Run psychologically safe focus groups and interviews to learn more about employees’ experiences to inform approaches. Whether traditional focus groups or anonymised digital ones, listening to your colleagues is important and imperative
- Raise awareness: Run sessions on the topic to raise colleague awareness of what sexual harassment is, and the governance and support available. A participant at one of our recent Anti-Sexual Harassment webinars said, “The managing directors contacted me after 5 mins of the session to tell me they were not expecting such a high quality of materials and delivery from the facilitators. TOP NOTCH!”
- Strengthen governance: review, update and improve existing policies on sexual harassment (and surrounding policies on bullying and harassment, ethics and employee conduct); taking into account the understanding and application of policies. For example you may want to train a team of ambassadors or support staff to become points of contact on the topic of sexual harassment in the workplace
- Take the right action: Work with and lead steering groups or committees to tailor a bespoke response to the WPA changes; complete with an action plan and RACI models
- Align outcomes: organisations that link values and behaviours to their performance management outcomes, see quicker results and culture change. Besides policy change, consider the range of implications (whether that be pay related, training, through to termination) that can and should be taken and the rigor that governs this.
Get in touch to learn more, we’d love to support you in implementing responses to the upcoming changes and increased responsibilities you hold in your workplaces. Clients have described our work in this space as “thought-provoking”, “effective”, “powerful”, and “empowering”. We bring expertise, experience, and openness to create spaces for meaningful dialogue, concrete plans, and reassurance for colleagues and key stakeholders alike.
By valuing and supporting individuals, your organisation can better your people’s experiences at work and unlock the full potential of your workforce.
