Sexual harassment in the workplace

In 2023 a woman was awarded just over £50K after making a claim of sexual harassment against her employer, Lidl.

Financial costs are not the only negative impact sexual harassment can have on a workplace though. Research shows sexual harassment victims are more likely to suffer symptoms of depression, poor sleep, and feelings of anxiety. This can result in higher staff turnover and poorer performance. And when cases go public, the damage to your business reputation can be significant.

The key to preventing these issues lies in understanding sexual harassment in the workplace and managing it responsibly—ideally before it happens.

What is sexual harassment in the workplace?

Under the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010), sexual harassment is defined as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, which has the purpose or effect of either:

(a) violating the complainant’s dignity;

or

(b) creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the complainant

Examples of sexual harassment at work can include:

• Verbal harassment: Making inappropriate, sexual comments about someone’s appearance, clothing, body, or behaviour.

• Non-verbal harassment: Non-verbal harassment can be anything from making gestures at someone, following or stalking, winking, hand gestures and more.

•  Physical harassment: This will include touching someone inappropriately, such as placing a hand on a person’s body, hugging, kissing, touching in an unwelcome manner.

Sexual harassment can occur in number of ways. Either as a single incident or occurrence or following a pattern of behaviour.

More examples of sexual harassment in the workplace can be read in what Is considered sexual harassment?

Employers’ legal responsibilities on sexual harassment

The Equality Act 2010 protects individuals from sexual harassment at work and when applying for a job. So, it doesn’t matter how long an employee has worked at your business—sexual harassment laws apply to all.

As an employer, under the Equality Act you are responsible for sexual harassment between your employees. 

You could also be found responsible for harassment:

• In any environment where work-related activities happen, such as social outings

• Online or via text messages, if it is seen to have originated at your workplace

These legal responsibilities provide good reason to protect your employees from all forms of sexual harassment.

Updates to this legislation within the Worker Protection Act 2023 also means your duty as an employer extends to preventing sexual harassment before it occurs. If these preventative duties have not been conducted, an employee can make a referral to The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)

Prevention of sexual harassment at work

An effective preventative measure is to create a harassment policy, which is coordinated with your grievance and disciplinary procedures.

 Your policy might include:

• A clear statement that sexual harassment at work will not be tolerated and will lead to disciplinary action

• Examples of what constitutes sexual harassment

• The legal implications, including costs that can arise from personal liability

• How employees can make a complaint, and the process that will follow

• A commitment to responding to complaints quickly, confidentially, fairly and with a full investigation

To ensure the policy is effective, you can make sure it is understood by all staff through induction and training for all employees. You might also require managers to implement the policy and understand their important role in addressing all forms of workplace harassment.

For more information on your legal duty to prevent sexual harassment at work, see employers legal duty for sexual harassment prevention.

Procedures to deal with sexual harassment complaints

All sexual harassment complaints should be dealt with promptly and thoroughly following the correct sexual harassment procedures. Through early intervention and mediation, you may be able to resolve problems before they become too serious.

Employees should feel able to make their complaint to any manager in case the perpetrator is their own line manager.

Formal procedure

A formal procedure should be triggered when informal measures don’t work or if the allegation warrants an immediate formal route. This procedure should fit with your organisation’s harassment and grievance procedures and should follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures. Complaints should be kept confidential to prevent victimisation.

Investigating a claim of sexual harassment

Formal sexual harassment complaints need to be thoroughly investigated. Gathering all the evidence from both parties as well as any third parties who may be able to provide more information. If you have a policy for sexual harassment in place, you should follow this throughout your investigation. As with any workplace investigation, your own personal views or feelings should not influence the way you deal with a claim of sexual harassment.

Taking disciplinary action

When a complaint is upheld, you should act in line with your organisation’s disciplinary procedure. Disciplinary action for sexual harassment within the workplace can include suspension or termination.

Disciplinary action should be recorded and documented. The best place for this would be our cloud-based HR document storage for unlimited document storage of all important and relevant HR documents. Helping you to keep all important HR documents in one, easy-to-access location. Therefore, both you and the employee can view these documents at any time.

Get support from BrightHR to prevent sexual harassment in your workplace

To prevent sexual harassment from occurring within your workplace, get the guidance and HR advice you need from our employment law specialists. Contact the BrightHR team today for more information or book a demo of our award-winning HR software.