Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to ensure employers are taking a proactive and preventative approach to protecting their employees from workplace sexual harassment.

On 26 October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment to the Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force. This inserted a new section 40A into the Equality Act 2010 which requires employers to anticipate the risk of sexual harassment occurring and take steps to prevent it. The Equality and Human Rights Commission published updated guidance to support employers with the changes.

We are also further strengthening protections against harassment by introducing three amendments to the Equality Act 2010 through the Employment Rights Bill. These will:

• require employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees;
• introduce an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties; and
• introduce a power to enable regulations to specify steps that are to be regarded as “reasonable”, to determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

Employers will be provided with clear guidance in advance of the new legislation coming into force. This will ensure that they are fully supported in complying with the changes.