Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment

Since 26 October 2024, employers have had a new duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This is a business-critical issue which applies to all employers, regardless of size. Failing to comply with the duty will expose an organisation to legal, financial, and reputational risk and may impact on the availability of a defence to discrimination claims. The emphasis of the duty is on proactivity rather than reactivity.

Compliance

A key aspect of compliance is the provision of relevant, up-to-date training for staff, managers and senior leaders to help raise awareness of what behaviour constitutes sexual harassment and guide staff and managers on reporting and responding to incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace. The CMS Employment team has developed a range of training options, including sessions for all staff, managers, HR teams and senior leaders. To find out more, please get in touch with your usual contact or via CMSEmployment.Team@cms-cmno.com.  

What is reasonable in terms of preventative measures will vary according to an employer’s size and resources, but as a minimum these should include:

• Carrying out sexual harassment risk assessments, which includes considering risks posed by third parties.
• Auditing existing workplace policies and procedures.
• Reviewing the effectiveness of internal reporting procedures and making sure these are communicated effectively.
• Raising awareness of and communicating the steps taken by the organisation to prevent sexual harassment.

The CMS Employment team can assist you with preparing a sexual harassment risk assessment, workplace policy reviews and broader advice on your prevention strategy.

eLearning Course

CMS’ eLearning course is aimed at upskilling your employees on their role in creating a safe workplace free from sexual harassment. It is a highly interactive and engaging course that explains the law on sexual harassment and victimisation, the new duty to prevent sexual harassment, and what this means for employees and employers in practice. The course is fully accessible online and supports an employer’s ability to demonstrate and evidence compliance with the duty to prevent. The course can be fully customised for your business. Find out more and request a demo.

Further Information

For further information about ways in which the CMS Employment team can help you to comply with the duty to prevent, please get in touch with your usual contact or via CMSEmployment.Team@cms-cmno.com.