On my way to work this morning I was listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 when a former employee of Harrods spoke candidly about how she was sexually harassed at work by former Harrods boss, Mohamed Al Fayed. It was shocking to hear her harrowing account of the harassment she faced at work and disturbing that, as Emma Barnett from the Today programme put it, “Harrods, under Mohamed Al Fayed’s ownership, not only failed to intervene but helped cover up assault allegations”.
This story got me thinking about how the new laws due to come into force on 26th October 2024 to place employers under a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace will affect employers, bearing in mind that laws prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace have already existed for almost 50 years, since the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
So, what’s new about the changes due to come into force? From 26th October 2024 employers will be under a positive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. If they fail to do so, not only is it likely that they will be liable for any sexual harassment which occurs in the workplace, but they will also face an increase in compensation of up to 25%. With compensation for discrimination being uncapped, and the highest Employment Tribunal award for sex discrimination in 2022/2023 being just shy of a £1,000,000, a 25% uplift could represent a significant increase in the potential compensation awarded.
However, what about the hidden costs? I know that aside from the legal risks, most employers want to build workplaces that are free from harassment and this new legislation will provide them with the perfect opportunity to look at how they might do that in the context of sexual harassment, hopefully building upon existing practices, to ensure that they have taken reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring at their workplaces.
If you would like to know more, please do sign up for our forthcoming annual employment law update on 3rd October 2024, where we will talk about the new legal duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and provide strategies for successfully building a culture free from sexual harassment. Book your free place here: Employment Law Annual Conference – The New Employment Landscape: Strategies for Success – Greene & Greene (greene-greene.com)
To listen to the interview from the Today Programme this morning, please visit the BBC Sounds website and skip to 1hr 31min. The BBC has also published the following article on their news site Mohamed Al Fayed accused of rape by female ex-Harrods staff – BBC News.