New EHRC templates for preventing sexual harassment

In October 2024 the Worker Protection Act came into force and introduced a new duty on employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. As well as this, the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published new guidance on harassment which, amongst other things, required employers to protect employees from sexual harassment by third parties. If you fail to meet these duties, it could lead to any tribunal compensation being increased by up to 25%, and the EHRC themselves can take action against you.

To help clarify how you can comply with your new obligations, the EHRC also produced a helpful guide detailing eight steps to take to reduce the risk of harassment.

The EHRC have now built on this guidance and have produced new resources to help employers like you comply with your new duty – including a checklist, an action plan and a monitoring log, and these are designed to sit alongside the policies and procedures you should already have in place. Here’s how you could use each of these resources:

• The checklist suggests actions to be taken before, during and after a shift, and includes points relating to risks from third party harassment – It’s important to note that while it’s designed as an example based on the hospitality industry, it could easily be adapted for other sectors
• The action plan lays out some suggestions for incorporating the checklist into your policies, and gives some ideas on putting the checklist steps into practice
• The monitoring log can be used to monitor the use and effectiveness of the checklist and action plan  – The EHRC recommends doing an in-depth log on a quarterly basis to review any action taken

The EHRC also recommend 3 main areas to consider when creating and implementing a checklist:

1. Communicating with staff in order to promote a zero tolerance culture and show you take sexual harassment seriously.

2. Controlling the physical and social working environment to make it as safe as possible.

3. Maintaining good working practices, through policies and procedure, to ensure you know when sexual harassment is happening and how it should be dealt with.

You’ll also need to think about who will be using the checklist and what support they need to understand it and use it effectively. It’s important to consider potential risk factors in your particular business, such as lone working or one person controlling all rotas, and include points in the checklist to help reduce these. Make sure you get staff involved to help identify what they may be concerned about and want including on the checklist.

Your checklist and action plan can include reminders to take certain actions monthly, quarterly or annually, for example refresher training or reminders in team meetings, as well as the steps to be taken on each shift, like asking about any concerns or identifying high-risk situations. The monitoring log can then be completed at the necessary intervals for each action point, to record that it has been done, assess its outcome or helpfulness, and review any changes or follow-up steps that might need to take place.

The full guidance from EHRC can be found here: EHRC harassment checklist guidance.

For more information on your new duties, read our full guide here.