On October 26 2024 new laws came into force on the sexual harassment policy which means that there is more onus on the employer to show that they have taken reasonable steps to prevent this happening in their Workforce.
Up until now we had a policy, procedures, you may have done some harassment and bullying training in induction but in many cases that was about it.
From October 2024 you’re going to have to do more than that. It is not enough just to do it once and mark it as complete, with more regular checks and updates needed. If there is a claim raised against you, and you go to court you will need to show that you have taken reasonable steps on a regular basis. The burden of proof is on you, the employer, to show that you’ve done this and if they find that it isn’t up to the mark then they can actually uplift any award by 25%. I wouldn’t panic if someone makes a one off throwaway remark it’s probably OK, but if there are sustained or any ongoing concerns then if employers don’t check and act on them consistently and regularly that’s when it can become a problem.
If you have any concerns about recent changes to rules would like advice from an independent HR consultant and how to implement policies in your workplace then please get in touch to find out how we can help today.