The Worker Protection Act has now been in force for 8 months, placing an increased legal duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment at work.
Since then, the number of cases related to sexual harassment taken to ACAS has risen significantly
Why is this happening? And what does this mean for employers?
An increase in cases suggests a greater awareness of what constitutes sexual harassment and a greater willingness to call it out – which on the surface could be seen as a positive step
However, the new legislation is designed to ensure organisations take preventative steps and to stop sexual harassment cases being bought in the first place
So, organisations should be asking themselves 2 key questions:
- Are we doing enough to create the right culture and stop sexual harassment concerns happening in the first place?
- And given the current increase in cases to ACAS, how confident are our managers to deal with a concern?
Your managers are key in addressing both these questions.
They may be aware of your updated sexual harassment policy, but in the moment when one of their team comes to them and says “I feel really uncomfortable about something someone said to me at the work drinks in the pub last night – what do I do?” will they know
- What to say (how to listen carefully and draw out the facts)
- What not to say (“Oh, I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by it”)
- What next steps to take (timeframes, who they should involve and not involve, how to hold subsequent conversations)
Their initial response can make all the difference between a supportive, fair and empathetic handling of the concern and one that sets up barriers and challenges from the start.
Your managers may also be aware that it is their responsibility to “create a respectful, inclusive culture” – as no doubt stated in the policy. But do they really have the confidence to
- step in when “banter” starts to cross the line?
- stop an inappropriate comment or joke even when it comes from the most successful and influential team member?
- nip comments in the bud without feeling like they are the “killjoy”
These are the real challenges to tackle if we are really going to make a difference and start to see a decrease in cases.
Focal Point can help support your managers in a range of ways
- Our interactive workshops give everyone a chance to explore how to tackle inappropriate behaviour at an early stage and stop incidents escalating
- Our “playbook” walks managers through the conversations and meetings they may need to have when someone raises a concern about sexual harassment – designed to support an informal approach and be used with your policies
- Our scenario based, interactive video provides an “on demand” resource for all your people to ensure they all play their part in preventing sexual harassment
You may also be interested in our other blogs on:
- What sort of training should we be offering to prevent sexual harassment at work?
- Worker Protection Act and sexual harassment – who are you responsible for?
- The Worker Protection Act – preventing sexual harassment
If you would like to talk to us about how we can help equip your managers with the skills and confidence to deal with sexually harassing behaviour, please contact us on 01903 732 782