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ISSUE 3
The regime for preventing sexual harassment: The obligation on employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to protect employees from sexual harassment will take effect in October 2024. The statutory provisions received criticism at the time for lacking teeth in not requiring employers to take ‘all’ reasonable steps, amongst other accusations of the provisions being watered down. The new government intends to continue to improve on this protection by equating a complaint of sexual harassment to whistleblowing. This would give dismissed workers the right to seek interim relief if they consider their dismissal is linked to their allegation of sexual harassment (ie that it is a protected disclosure).
to disclose this even if the data is being captured ‘confidentially’ and ‘anonymously’. However, measuring some data should help employers understand better the make-up of its workforce and what meaningful changes could be implemented to improve pay for disabled workers. With regards to gender pay reporting, the government proposes to broaden the parameters to include outsourced workers as well, which may mean more employers will be deemed ‘large’, making gender pay reporting a bigger exercise. The method for obtaining the pay data needs some thought though and is likely to be the subject of consultation first.
Authors:
Emma Bartlett Liz Pearson Kia Aoki
Emma Bartlett is a Partner at CM Murray LLP , specialising in employment and partnership law. She advises on a varied cross-section of employment law matters, including unlawful discrimination, whistleblowing, equal pay, unfair dismissal, breach of contract, restrictive covenants, protecting confidential information, boardroom and partner disputes and claims under TUPE. She has particular expertise in dispute resolution and litigation, notably discrimination, bonus, whistleblowing and trade union issues. She is a specialist in contentious discrimination matters and handling high-value contentious claims for employers and senior individuals. She is also D&I lead at the firm. Liz Pearson is an Associate specialising in employment and partnership law. Liz was admitted as a solicitor in Australia in September 2019. Kia Aoki is an Associate specialising in employment and partnership law. Kia was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2022.
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