There will be a new duty for employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace from October 2024.

The Worker Protection Act (amendment of Equality Act 2010) will change the duty of employers from redress to prevention.

This follows a charter release from NHS England on sexual safety at work, which asks employers to commit to a zero-tolerance approach to any unwanted, inappropriate and harmful sexual behaviours towards the workforce.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is updating its 2020 technical guidance on sexual harassment in the workplace. This will help employers to comply with the new duty and understand the law.

You can feed into the EHRC consultation on the technical guidance until August 6, 2024. The technical guidance will then be published in September 2024.

In advance of the duty and technical guidance, there are steps that employers can take in advance to prepare. The CIPD outlines the priority areas to focus on, which include culture change, training and reporting channels.

Other resources

NHS Project S, is a campaign to improve working conditions in the NHS. It focuses on discrimination and workplace safety, particularly the safety of women working in healthcare.

Visit the ‘Surviving in Scrubs’ web page to find out more about their campaign to end sexism, harassment and sexual assault within healthcare.

Kathy McLean has written a blog to explain why she believes all NHS boards must sign up for the ‘NHS Sexual Safety Charter’.

In 2023, the BMA pledged to tackle gender discrimination in medicine. This followed a survey that showed a shocking 91 per cent of women doctor respondents in the UK had experienced sexism at work, with 42 per cent feeling they could not report it.

Women in the NHS and the broader health and social care sector can join the Health and Care Women Leaders Network. It is a diverse community of talented professional women who connect through events, networking and shared learning.

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