Sexual harassment and your small enterprise. What to do if one in all your workers member complains about being harassed at work
- Sexual harassment is undesirable behaviour that intimidates or causes somebody to be offended or to really feel violated in any means.
- Within the UK, the identical sexual harassment laws applies to each measurement of companies, massive or small, because it all falls beneath the heading of discrimination.
- Further legal guidelines are coming in beneath the Employment Rights Act 2025. As of April 6, 2026, sexual harassment grew to become a ‘qualifying disclosure’ beneath whistleblowing regulation. Because of this complainants have safety from detriment and unfair dismissal.
- From October 30, 2026, employers should take ‘all affordable steps’ moderately than the present ‘affordable steps’. On prime of that, employers will probably be responsible for harassment from third events (together with clients and shoppers), until they’ve taken affordable steps to forestall it.
- Scale back the occasion of harassment by doing a office threat evaluation, updating insurance policies, offering common coaching and ensuring managers understand how to reply to sexual harassment considerations.
A 2025 Unite survey discovered that 25 per cent of girls and virtually three-quarters (68 per cent) of LGBT staff have been sexually assaulted at work. Of who that skilled assault, 75 per cent by no means reported it to their employer.
With these employment tribunal instances on the rise, it’s excessive time to handle sexual harassment within the office.
>See additionally: Sexual harassment: #MeToo and Time’s up encourage staff to talk out
What’s the regulation on sexual harassment within the office?
Within the UK, the identical sexual harassment laws applies to each measurement of companies, massive or small, because it all falls beneath the heading of discrimination.
Further legal guidelines are coming in beneath the Employment Rights Act 2025. As of April 6, 2026, sexual harassment grew to become a ‘qualifying disclosure’ beneath whistleblowing regulation. Because of this complainants have safety from detriment and unfair dismissal.
From October 30, 2026, employers should take ‘all affordable steps’ moderately than the present ‘affordable steps’. On prime of that, employers will probably be responsible for harassment from third events (together with clients and shoppers), until they’ve taken affordable steps to forestall it.
And discrimination is one thing the regulation takes very severely certainly. A badly dealt with discrimination case might you permit you, as a small enterprise, tens of 1000’s of kilos out of pocket. It might additionally trigger you severe reputational injury.
Laura Ranaghan, HR advisor at Citrus HR, says: “The content material of the coverage that offers with sexual harassment at giant firms similar to M&S would be the similar kind of course of that you will want to comply with in your personal small enterprise though they’ve the benefit of huge HR departments with which to deal with complaints.”
So, what’s the proper means for any small enterprise to deal with an allegation of sexual harassment?
>See additionally: The Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment case – What can we be taught?
What’s sexual harassment?
Sexual harassment is undesirable behaviour that intimidates or causes somebody to be offended or to really feel violated in any means. There are the extra simply recognisable examples of undesirable bodily contact or extra severe assault. Nonetheless, It doesn’t all the time should be bodily contact — it might be lewd jokes or circulating pornographic photos in a bunch chat, or making feedback about an individual’s look for instance.
It is also as seemingly innocuous as repeatedly asking a colleague to exit for an undesirable drink after work or what might be construed as light-hearted laddish banter or a joke in dangerous style. A gross sales rep who thinks he’s being humorous by being flirtatious will be intimidating and horrifying to a feminine workers member.
Nonetheless, all that is very a lot on a case-by-case foundation because it isn’t potential to create a listing of conduct to present to workers that covers the whole lot that’s probably harassment and the whole lot that’s not. What one particular person defines as undesirable consideration or finds offensive might be acceptable to another person.
One of many difficulties that may occur in a office is the place somebody complains that they really feel harassed by a colleague and the colleague says that didn’t realise that their behaviour was offensive or undesirable. Even when the particular person complained about didn’t intend to harass, the emphasis stays on the one that feels harassed and the way it’s left them feeling and never what was meant.
How do I forestall sexual harassment?
Prevention is all the time finest, so let’s revisit the time period ‘all affordable steps’. Emma Gross, employment regulation associate at Spencer West LLP, stated that small enterprise house owners ought to be taking a proactive method moderately than a reactive method, and placing acceptable measures in place.
Office-specific threat evaluation
Contemplate the sector you’re in and the kind of work your workers do. Their work would possibly contain lone journey and in a single day stays, for instance. Bear in mind to think about extra dangerous eventualities similar to work social occasions, lone working and state of affairs involving alcohol and energy imbalances. As you’re going to be responsible for third-party harassment until you are taking affordable steps, assess conditions with shoppers and clients, too.
Replace your anti-harassment insurance policies and reporting procedures
Replace your anti-harassment insurance policies to replicate the brand new legal guidelines and the findings out of your threat evaluation. Give your reporting procedures doc a polish to incorporate the change in whistleblowing regulation.
Present common and significant coaching
Be certain that your workers know what sexual harassment is and what behaviour ought to be averted. Remind them of the process for reporting sexual harassment and the safety they’ve towards unfair therapy and dismissal.
Guarantee managers know how you can establish and reply to considerations
After all, managers ought to make sure that their workers perceive sexual harassment and how you can report it. It might be useful for managers to know what indicators to look out for, similar to calling in sick extra typically or growing nervous habits, and when to rearrange a one-to-one with the colleague they’re involved about.
“A coverage sitting unread in a handbook is not going to be sufficient. Employers ought to have the ability to show the sensible steps they’ve taken, preserve these measures beneath overview and foster a tradition during which workers really feel capable of elevate considerations with out worry of retaliation,” Gross informed Small Enterprise.
See additionally: Easy methods to forestall sexual harassment in a small enterprise
If any individual raises a criticism, what’s the very first thing I ought to do?
If somebody raises a sexual harassment criticism, they’ve the choice of it being dealt with both informally within the first occasion or formally by way of a grievance process anti bullying and harassment process when you’ve got one.
This grievance process ought to be identified to you or you’ll be able to seek the advice of customary documentation at office dispute decision service ACAS.
First, set up whether or not they or not they wish to have it handled formally or informally. Whatever the reply, you’ll have to examine.
Karen Falconer HR information supervisor at HR Options, says: “I might all the time advise the worker who’s alleged the harassment what it’s that you simply’re going to do, your method and what the timescale will probably be .”
- Take any criticism severely, regardless of how inconsequential you could regard it. Have a non-public dialog along with your upset workers member.
- Subsequent, verify when you’ve got an present anti-harassment or bullying or sexual harassment coverage in place. Yow will discover a helpful information to sexual harassment from the dispute decision service Acas right here
- Take a contemporaneous word of the dialog you’re having along with your harassed worker on your future reference
- Ask in the event that they wish to elevate a proper criticism and put the whole lot in writing?
Do I want to talk to the one that’s the topic of the criticism?
Sure, you do. It is advisable hear their model of occasions as nicely.
After you have gathered sufficient info, you need to have a gathering with the particular person accused of the harassment as quickly as potential – ideally the identical day – particularly if what has been alleged is gross misconduct. You could want to position them on fast suspension (or an acceptable various).
Then again, the alleged perpetrator could also be fully justified in saying that it’s all been a misunderstanding after you have investigated what has occurred.
“There’s room for reasonableness within the eyes of a layperson in relation to sexual harassment,” says Falconer.
Ideally, you need the 2 individuals concerned to patch issues up between them and never let issues escalate any additional. Clearly, that is solely acceptable the place allegations should not severe sufficient to be potential gross misconduct.
What if the particular person being complained about is essential to my enterprise?
That’s irrelevant. You could put apart work efficiency or seniority. By ignoring the Equality Act 2010, you develop into each liable and vicariously responsible for discrimination claims which will be for limitless quantities. Plus there might be monetary penalties on prime for harm to emotions.
What if I don’t imagine a model of occasions?
No matter whether or not the one that made the criticism has requested you to deal with it formally you will have the choice to escalate issues to a disciplinary listening to your self for those who imagine that the conduct meets that threshold. You would want to let the particular person know that that is what you had been going to do.
What occurs if it escalates to a proper criticism?
If there was no room for a casual decision it’s essential to take care of the criticism formally. You escalate it to comply with your grievance coverage or anti bullying and harassment coverage You would want to ask the one that is complaining and the one that the criticism is raised about to a proper assembly. It’s traditional to present 48 hours’ discover and the best to carry a commerce union rep or work colleague. You will have to take notes of those conferences and perform any additional investigations with any witnesses earlier than you attain your conclusions. The one that made the criticism may have a proper of attraction towards the choice if they aren’t pleased with it.
The workers member might nonetheless attraction to a better authority inside your organisation ideally who has not been concerned earlier than or that is the second the place you search for exterior assist by way of an exterior HR advisor. Bear in mind, the exterior HR adviser might go towards no matter you resolve on the finish of your inner investigation, for those who’ve dealt with issues badly.
“We do certainly try this, as unpopular as it’s typically,” Falconer says.
This larger authority’s end result nonetheless will probably be closing.
What occurs if the complainant remains to be sad?
Though it’s the finish of the street internally, the workers member might nonetheless search exterior assist.
For essentially the most half, workers can solely lodge employment tribunal claims as soon as they’ve been with a agency for over two years. However that’s not the case with discrimination.
Once more, they might go to Acas, which supplies neutral recommendation on employment issues and whether or not process has not been adopted. Acas might then advocate that they go for early conciliation.
What’s early conciliation?
It is a step that was introduced in a couple of years in the past previous to any individual going to an employment tribunal.
Designed to scale back the quantity of instances going to industrial tribunal, early conciliation is a free means for workers to settle outdoors of a proper listening to. Acas will present a conciliator who contacts you.
“As a result of the worker is saying they wish to settle outdoors of tribunal – as a result of if it’s acquired this far, the questions to think about are do you imagine they’ve a case and the way a lot are you keen to pay?” says Falconer.
What sort of fines might I face for mishandling sexual harassment?
There isn’t any higher restrict technically as a result of sexual harassment comes beneath discrimination regulation, the place there is no such thing as a cap on compensation for lack of earnings
The harassed workers member who feels their allegation has been badly dealt with might both resign after which make a declare for constructive dismissal and for intercourse discrimination. Or they might stick with it working for and nonetheless make a declare for intercourse discrimination.
An employment tribunal might make a separate award for lack of earnings plus the tribunal can award harm to emotions costing anyplace over £45,000 as much as £900,000 relying on the seriousness of the misery prompted.
