The Government, regulators and employers are failing in their
responsibilities to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace,
says the Women and Equalities
Committee in a major report published today,
following a wide-ranging six-month inquiry.
The Committee finds that sexual harassment at work is widespread
and commonplace but there has been a failure to tackle unlawful
behaviours, despite the Government's obligations under
international law. Employers and regulators have ignored their
responsibilities for too long, says the Committee, and often
legal protections are not available to workers in practice.
Forty per cent of women and 18% of men have experienced unwanted
sexual behaviour in the workplace [Source: ComRes poll for the
BBC]. See attached infographics.
The report calls on Government to focus on five
priorities to put sexual harassment at the top of the agenda for
employers:
-
Introduce a new duty on employers to prevent
harassment, supported by a statutory code of
practice outlining the steps they can take to do this; and
ensure that interns, volunteers and those harassed by third
parties have access to the same legal protections and remedies
as their workplace colleagues;
-
Require regulators to take a more active
role, starting by setting
out the actions they will take to help tackle this problem,
including the enforcement action they will take; and by making
it clear to those they regulate that sexual harassment is a
breach of professional standards and a reportable offence with
sanctions;
-
Make enforcement processes work better for employees
by setting out in the statutory code of practice
what employers should do to tackle sexual harassment; and by
reducing barriers to taking forward tribunal cases, including
by extending the time limit for submitting a claim, introducing
punitive damages for employers and reducing cost risks for
employees;
-
Clean up the use of non-disclosure agreements
(NDAs), including by requiring the use of
standard, plain English confidentiality clauses, which set out
the meaning, limit and effect of the clause, and by making it
an offence to misuse such clauses; and extending whistleblowing
protections so that disclosures to the police and regulators
such as the EHRC are protected;
-
Collect robust data on the extent of
sexual harassment in the workplace and on the number of
employment tribunal claims involving complaints of harassment
of a sexual nature.
Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, MP, said:
“It is utterly shameful that in 2018, unwanted sexual
comments, touching, groping and assault are seen as an everyday
occurrence and part of the culture in many workplaces.
Government, regulators and employers have been dodging their
responsibilities for far too long.
“There is currently little incentive for employers to take
robust action. In contrast, there is considerable focus on other
corporate governance issues like protecting people's personal
data and preventing money laundering, with stringent requirements
on employers and businesses to meet their responsibilities. It's
time to put the same emphasis on tackling sexual harassment.
"The effects of sexual harassment can be traumatic and
devastating, and this is reinforced by the personal evidence we
received. The lack of appropriate support for victims within the
workplace cannot continue. The burden falls unacceptably on the
individual to hold harassers and employers to account when they
will already hesitate to do so due to fear of victimisation. The
current system is inadequate: the tribunal system must provide an
effective remedy for employees.
“NDAs have their place in settling complaints, but they must
not be used to prevent or dissuade victims from reporting
incidents as is clearly the case now. We expect proper regulation
of NDAs and that any unethical practices lead to strong and
appropriate sanctions.”
ENDS
Background
Early this year the Committee heard oral
evidence from experts on employment and law (31 Jan
2018). It subsequently launched a full inquiry to consider issues
covered in that session in greater depth. Terms of
reference here.
28 March: Harvey Weinstein’s former
assistant, Zelda Perkins, spoke to
the Committee about the non-disclosure agreement she was asked to
sign. The law firms that drew up the agreement, and
others, also gave evidence.
25 April: this evidence
session continued to look at the
use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and the legal
advice given to those signing them.
16 May: this session examined actions that the
Government and employers should be taking to tackle
sexual harassment.
23 May: this evidence session looked
at the action that employers
can take.
6 June: this session focused
on the law and the
effectiveness of routes to redress including tribunals
and mediation.
13 June: the final session
gave the Minister for
Women the opportunity to respond to the issues raised
during the inquiry so far.
The Committee also received written evidence
submissions from 80 organisations and individuals.
