A prominent retailer have signed an agreement with the EHRC to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This follows the retailer being found by an employment tribunal to have failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of an employee.
In the judgement, the tribunal highlighted key failings on the retailer's behalf including a lack of a risk assessment, insufficient training, and inconsistent awareness of anti-harassment policies amongst managers. The result of this was a culture within the store that allowed for repeated conduct the tribunal deemed as sexual harassment to take place. This included both verbal and physical conduct, alongside a dismissive attitude from managers when the employee raised concerns.
EHRC enforcement
Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are legally responsible if an employee is sexually harassed at work by a colleague, and the employer has not taken all reasonable steps to prevent it from happening. Since October 2024, employers have also been under a proactive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
The agreement, known as a ‘section 23 agreement’ which can legally be enforced by the EHRC via court action, sets out the retailer's commitment to:
• Run a staff survey relating to sexual harassment within the workplace and assess if additional preventative steps are necessary
• Develop a system to monitor and analyse informal complaints of sexual harassment to identify ongoing risks and whether additional preventative steps are required
• Monitor the effectiveness of complaint handling for new formal complaints of sexual harassment
• Review a sample of sexual harassment complaints from 2023 and 2024 to assess any trends and risks
• Arrange meetings with its existing DE&I groups to discuss risks of sexual harassment, and any additional preventative steps which could be taken
• Continue to monitor and review its sexual harassment risk assessment
• Further review internal harassment policies and training content, including its relationships at work guidance
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What does this mean for employers?
This intervention from the EHRC makes it clear that enforcement of the new laws on sexual harassment is real and is happening.
Employers who aren’t confident in their compliance to the obligations set out in the duty should take this as a sign to review their current policies, processes and practices around sexual harassment.
The first step is to carry out a risk assessment, highlighting areas within the business that sexual harassment may occur. From here, reasonable steps can be determined dependent on the business but are likely to include creating a policy, carrying out training to managers and employees, and reviewing complaints processes.
The EHRC have committed to continuing to use their “unique powers” to “ensure everyone can work without fear of sexual harassment.”
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