✔ Review Your Policies

Having a policy sitting in your Employee Handbook is not enough on its own. Check that your policies reflect the preventative duty and clearly explain the standards of behaviour expected in your workplace.

You should consider whether you have an appropriate Sexual Harassment Policy, Harassment & Bullying Policy and a clear procedure explaining how employees can report concerns. Make sure employees know where to find them and how to use them.

✔ Assess Your Risks

Every workplace is different, so the reasonable steps you need to take will depend on the risks within your own business.

Consider circumstances that could increase the risk of sexual harassment, including lone working, customer-facing roles, alcohol at work-related events, power imbalances and contact with customers, suppliers and other third parties.

Your risk assessment doesn’t need to be complicated, but it should demonstrate that you’ve considered where problems could arise and what you can reasonably do to prevent them.

✔ Train Your Managers and Employees

Training helps employees understand what sexual harassment is, the standards of behaviour expected and how to raise a concern.

Managers need additional confidence to recognise inappropriate behaviour, respond appropriately when concerns are raised and know what to do next.

Training shouldn’t simply be completed once and forgotten. It needs to remain relevant and should be refreshed periodically.

✔ Make It Easy to Report Concerns

Employees need to know how and where to raise a concern and feel confident that they will be listened to.

Your reporting arrangements should be clear and accessible. Employees should know that concerns will be taken seriously, handled appropriately and that victimisation or retaliation against someone who raises a concern will not be tolerated.

Remember, the fact that nobody has complained does not necessarily mean that nothing has happened.

✔ Keep Everything Under Review

Preventing sexual harassment isn’t a one-off compliance exercise.

Review your policies, risk assessment, training and reporting arrangements regularly and whenever something changes within the business. You should also reconsider your arrangements following a complaint or incident, even where the matter has been resolved.

The important question is not simply “What did we put in place?” but “Is what we’ve put in place actually working?”

HR Myth

“We don’t have a problem here. Nobody has ever complained.”

Reality

The absence of complaints does not mean the absence of sexual harassment. Employees may be reluctant to report concerns because they feel embarrassed, fear the consequences or simply don’t believe anything will change. Employers need to take preventative action rather than waiting for someone to complain.

HR Myth

“It’s only banter. We’re all mates here.”

Reality

Calling something banter does not prevent it from being sexual harassment. What matters is not simply whether someone intended their behaviour as a joke, but whether the conduct had the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

HR Myth

“The law doesn’t actually say we have to provide training.”

Reality

The legislation does not prescribe a particular training course. However, employers have a proactive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. Appropriate and effective training is likely to form an important part of demonstrating the reasonable steps an employer has taken.

HR Myth

“If we do training, we’ll just encourage people to complain.”

Reality

Good training doesn’t create sexual harassment. It helps employees understand the standards of behaviour expected, how to raise concerns and where the boundaries lie. It also gives managers greater confidence to recognise inappropriate behaviour and respond properly when concerns arise.

HR Myth

“It doesn’t really apply to us.”

Reality

Sexual harassment risk is not limited to large organisations or particular types of workplace. Employers should consider how their employees interact with colleagues, managers, contractors, customers, suppliers and other third parties when assessing where risks could arise.

HR Myth

“Nobody meant any harm.”

Reality

Intention is not the only consideration. Conduct can amount to sexual harassment because of its effect, even where the person responsible says they did not intend to offend or upset anyone. “I was only joking” is not an automatic defence.