Sexual Harassment
How should employers tackle sexual harassment at work?
The problems caused by sexual harassment at work are numerous; for the employee who considers that they are being harassed, it can cause significant distress and it can sometimes lead to periods of absence and/or under performance. For employers, sexual harassment investigations can be time consuming, difficult to prove or disprove, and ultimately one party is likely to be dissatisfied with the outcome.
Following the #MeToo movement in 2017, there is a view that we are now starting to see a cultural change with more women feeling able to speak up about their experiences. This has led to a recognition about certain behaviour and a better understanding about what is not acceptable in the workplace (or at all).
Sadly, sexual harassment at work is still very much a live issue and this has been reflected in the recent government consultation on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace: government response - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The consultation established that 54% of those surveyed stated that they had experienced harassment at work. Women accounted for 62% of these respondents with those aged 26 to 45 being specifically affected.
The government has now committed to introduce legislation to impose a preventative duty on employers to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. As things currently stand, employers are liable for acts of sexual harassment by their employees unless they can establish a statutory defence that it took ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent the harassment. The government’s proposal is to establish a duty on the employer to ensure action is taken before an event of sexual harassment occurs, rather than having to rely on a statutory defence after the event.
In its response to the consultation, the government commented that workplace sexual harassment is part of a wider cultural problem, with some arguing that we will only see progress within the workplace once this is tackled at a societal level. The response states “Public awareness of the issue of sexual harassment in all settings has continued to grow since the start of the #MeToo movement in 2017, as has the recognition that this cannot continue, and the determination to see real change. This can only serve to increase the pressure on all employers to do everything they can to improve safety within their own workplaces.”
A further report recently published by the Fawcett Foundation: Tackling sexual harassment in the workplace: recommendations for employers | The Fawcett Society continues this theme; and makes a clear link between culture within workplaces and sexual harassment. Rather than laying the blame on any one particular ‘bad apple’, the report suggests that these problems arise where there is a culture of behaviour in workplaces that violates the dignity of predominantly women, and that is often treated as acceptable ‘banter’.
The statistics in this report are a stark reminder that sexual harassment is still very much a problem in the workplace; 23% of those surveyed said that the sexual harassment increased or escalated while they were working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disabled women surveyed were more likely to have experienced sexual harassment (68%) than women in general (52%). Employees from ethnic minority backgrounds, both men and women, reported experiencing sexual harassment at a higher level than white employees, with rates of 32% and 28% respectively. The report also found that 68% of LGBT employees had experienced harassment in the workplace
The report sets out steps that employers could take to reduce instances of sexual harassment at work including:
· Take all forms of sexual harassment seriously.
· Treat employees who report sexual harassment with respect and empathy and ensure women feel able to report harassment, including facilitating anonymous reporting.
· Increase gender equality within the organisation, especially at senior levels.
· Demonstrate leadership commitment to tackling harassment.
· Measure their organisational attitudes towards sexual harassment by conducting an employee survey.
· Provide managers dealing with reports with guidance and support.
· Have a clear and detailed sexual harassment policy that is separate to their general harassment and bullying policy.
Is now a good time to review your workplace culture and consider whether there are changes that you can implement now in order to prevent any problems of sexual harassment in the future? It should be stressed that this is not just a box ticking exercise, there are clear commercial benefits to promoting a culture which does not tolerate harassment in any form.This helps to ensure that employees feel valued, included and empowered to speak up without fear of negative treatment should they ever feel harassed at work.