Tackling Sexual Harassment at Work Resources

Resources about the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, which comes into force on 26 October 2024

Get ready for new duty to prevent sexual harassment
In this thought leadership piece from CIPD Voice, a little background is provided on the journey of the bill to become law, along with a number of priority area suggestions for employers to focus on.

People Manager Guide: How to tackle sexual harassment
Practical advice for managers on tackling sexual harassment in the workplace with sections on What sexual harassment is, How I can play my part, and How I should deal with a report of sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment and harassment at work: technical guidance
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has updated its guidance to include the new preventative duty to help employers understand their new obligations under equality law. The rest of the current guidance has also been updated with a few minor changes.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace – will 2024 be the year things change?
This article looks at action taken by ACAS to better understand how ‘good’ employers can get things wrong. It drew together a group from leading institutions, social partners, major employers, and trade unions to examine “what is the role of the Board to provide assurance on prevalence, actions taken, and prevention?” Included are the shared major challenges and ideas generated that boards could do differently.

Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023
The National Archives manages the page on the website with the latest available version of the legislation text.

Guidance on Tackling Sexual Harassment at Work

5 Steps HR Can Take To End Workplace Harassment
Focusing on Sexual Harassment, this article on the American SHRM site outlines the importance of commitment, encouraging bystander intervention, holding people accountable, creating a speak-up culture, and assessing and addressing your response culture.

ACAS guidance and advice relating to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
The ACAS website has a page full of advice and guidance relating to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.  

CIPD Guide - Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) includes this guide within its knowledge hub. It provides practical support for tackling sexual harassment and bullying at work.

Dealing with Sexual Harassment
Resources from Lean In. Although this page on sexual harassment is focused on American readers, it includes several links to good resources for individuals and companies, as well as a couple of helpful discussion guides, including 'How to talk about sexual harassment'.

Guidance on Reporting Sexual Harassment at Work

Check what you can do about harassment
This page from the Citizen's Advice Bureau is clear and concise. It outlines the actions you can take if you've experienced harassment. Although the advice applies to England, links are provided for taking action in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Sexual Harassment Policy Checklist
Provided by the NASUWT, the teachers union, this webpage provides a list of the important aspects any effective and acceptable sexual harassment policy should contain. 

Why we fail to report sexual harassment
This article in the Harvard Business Review discusses the reasons for the lack of reporting: fear of retaliation, the bystander effect, and male-dominated organisations/masculine culture. Suggestions to make reporting more likely include providing bystander training for employees and developing clear HR and reporting systems, e.g. processes to reduce the risk of retaliation or gossip, and developing a culture, with the commitment of senior management, that reflects an intolerance of sexual harassment.

Resources on Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work

Encouraging A Speak Up Culture

Speak Up
The Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) provides advice on how organisations can strengthen their ethical culture by sharing knowledge and good practice. This page of their website provides a summary of good practice and includes links to their essential resources: the IBE Speak Up Toolkit to help employees prepare for raising a concern at work and the Good Practice Guide for Encouraging a Speak Up Culture.

Speaking up is the ultimate act of loyalty
An interesting blog article on the Institute of Business Ethics website.

Speaking up about Sexual Harassment
This article by John Wilson, Chief Executive of whistleblowing hotline Expolink, considers what stops employees from speaking out and concludes, "Building a healthy culture, putting the whistleblower's needs first, and showing that their concerns are acted upon, will encourage more people to come forward.'

The importance of training to raise awareness and understanding

Why Sexual Harassment Awareness Training is Essential In Certain Sectors
This article explores why women are reluctant to report inappropriate behaviour in a male-dominated environment and how mandatory training is recommended to encourage diversity, inclusion and respect in the workplace, as those who may need it the most tend not to volunteer or self-refer.

Sexual Harassment at Work - Case Studies

How one UK University confronted its Sexual Harassment problem
This Guardian article outlines the measures Goldsmiths, University of London, has implemented to deal with complaints effectively. Goldsmiths had found itself at the heart of the scandal around not addressing sexual harassment in the world of academia after a number of students made complaints of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct and bullying against staff.  They have since tried to learn from the experience and position themselves as leaders in the handling of cases of sexual harassment and misconduct.