Gedling Council to enforce new protections to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace

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Gedling Borough Council.

By Latifa Yedroudj, Junior Local Democracy Reporter

Gedling Borough Council will roll out new measures to protect staff from sexual harassment.

The Labour-run authority will update its sexual harassment policy to include a series of preventative measures to keep staff safe.

This means the council will not only respond to incidents of harassment, but also have measures in place to prevent them from occurring.

The authority’s Appointments and Conditions of Service Committee will meet on Wednesday, June 18, to discuss the policy changes.

It follows the Government’s introduction of key changes to sexual harassment legislation last October.

This includes changes to the Equality Act 2010 under the Worker Protection Act 2023.

Under this legislation, employers now have a statutory duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.

This includes other people at work and third parties, such as customers, clients, and contractors.

Council documents say: “As an employer, we must take action to assess risks and put measures in place.

“We cannot wait until sexual harassment/harassment happens. If it’s already happened, we must take action to stop it from happening again.

“If we do not take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) could take action against the Council.

“We might also have to pay a higher rate of compensation if an employee makes a successful claim at an employment tribunal.”

The law also encourages employers to foster positive workplace culture, anticipate potential risks of harassment and implement steps to prevent it.

If harassment does occur, they must take appropriate action to prevent it from happening again.

Gedling Borough Council’s policy will also be updated to address sexual harassment and what is classed as ‘unacceptable behaviour’.

The authority is also planning a training roll-out for frontline staff and managers focusing on identifying, preventing, and responding to harassment.

Failure to comply could include legal and financial penalties and potential “reputation damage” to the council and its leadership, documents say.

Therefore, the council will review its harassment policies and training to ensure it meets the new legal requirements.

Documents added: “[This decision would] incorporate prevention of harassment from ‘third parties into the policy.

“We have a duty to prevent harassment from/too third parties, including customers, contractors and the general public, in the course of employment/someone undertaking their duties whilst interacting with these third parties.

“[We will also improve our] general communication and our approach to the whole organisation, and update our organisational risk assessment detailing the steps we have taken to manage and prevent harassment/sexual harassment.

“[The] development of a flow process for reporting and managing harassment/ sexual harassment is in progress and will be shared and included within the training for employees and managers.”

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