Managers’ new duty to prevent sexual harassment at work

Hello and welcome to Working It.

I am just back from a whistle-stop trip to the US West Coast with the Working It video team 📹. We filmed interviews with tech executives who are implementing innovative ideas that might become the future of work for all of us. (We even whizzed round San Francisco between filming gigs in a driverless taxi.)

Someone then pointed out to me on LinkedIn that businesses in other sectors are leading on this, too. Coolness does not automatically lead to innovation 😎. Fair enough, but innovation, and specifically AI, is in the air on the West Coast. A new gold rush is under way — how will this one turn out?

Read on for a heads-up about a UK legal change that puts the onus on employers to prevent sexual harassment of staff. Plus, we welcome back careers expert Jonathan Black 😌, with a question from a 30-something in a rut. We’ll be alternating “Dear Jonathan” questions on career development with Office Therapy workplace dilemmas.

If you have an idea for a story — or for making this newsletter better — do email: [email protected]. Or collar me at an event: I’m at Oxford university tomorrow evening [Thursday — a free talk for the university’s students, staff and alumni, do register if that includes you] and next week in Amsterdam at Reshaping Work 💬.

New law, new obligations for employers

On October 26, the new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 will come into effect. It requires employers to take “proactive and reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of staff during their employment 🛑. The previous government launched a consultation on these changes in 2019, so this has been a long time in the making.

It sounds reassuring and helpful, but what, I wondered does it actually mean for employers? Naeema Choudry, partner at law firm Eversheds Sutherlands, suggests what best practice will involve: “Vital steps to take will include conducting risk assessments, reviewing and updating policies, planning and conducting training sessions, which will need to be adapted to the needs of those being trained. A one size fits all approach will not work. Also, establishing clear and efficient reporting mechanisms and, importantly, ensuring senior leadership are engaged.”

There may be serious consequences if businesses don’t act to protect staff. Naeema says: “Whilst breach of the new duty does not entitle employees to bring a freestanding claim in the employment tribunal claim, if they do bring a tribunal claim arising out of any sexual harassment, and that claim is successful, then the tribunal must consider whether the employer has taken reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. If the tribunal finds that reasonable steps have not been taken, then it can increase any compensation by up to 25 per cent. In addition, the EHRC [Equality and Human Rights Commission] can take enforcement action against the employer.”

What do managers need to do right now? The first priority is to read, and act on, EHRC guidance on the subject. “This guidance includes advice on actions employers can take to prevent and respond to workplace harassment. Additionally, the EHRC has updated its employer 8-step guide to preventing sexual harassment in the workplace to reflect the new preventive duty.”

The new law applies not only to harassment taking place in the physical workplace, but also at training events and social events. And while the act doesn’t specifically cover harassment by third parties — such as customers or suppliers — the EHRC guidance does include this requirement, Naeema says: “This is especially important in industries like retail, where you can’t always control customer behaviour. However, businesses can make it clear to their customers, clients and suppliers that harassment of their employees won’t be tolerated and that appropriate action will be taken against any third party who sexually harasses them.

“It’s also crucial to support your employees by providing them with the training and skills to challenge inappropriate behaviour and escalate issues.”

There’s a lot to take in. What effect is this change going to have? Is it enough? There are, as we know, “tick-box” cultures in some workplaces ✅ and power imbalances are built in at any organisation. Mel Rodrigues is CEO of Creative Access, a social enterprise focused on improving diversity, equity and inclusion across the creative industries. She has had a long career in TV, and welcomes the change in the law: “My hope is that it will mean no one has to endure the physical or verbal harassment I previously experienced, often dismissed as ‘banter’ by bosses.”

There is a “but”, of course: “However, companies risk falling short without clear guidance on what ‘reasonable steps’ truly means, and what’s needed to prevent harassment, by addressing the power imbalances and cultural factors that allow it to persist.”

As so often, it’s not the rules and regulations that will make work better, but the intent and effectiveness of the people who implement them 👩🏽‍💻.

Consider this your heads up on this big change: the FT will be covering the topic in more detail next week.

Further reading: The CIPD professional body for HRs has some good, easy-to-read material.

Does your organisation offer useful free resources on the new Worker Protection Act? (I hear ‘active bystander training’ is going to be important.) Let me know and I’ll share thoughts here: [email protected].

This week on the Working It podcast

Bankers and lawyers are in “greedy jobs” — they may work 80, 90 or 100-hour weeks and are paid handsomely — but have very little time for the rest of their lives 😰. What are they doing that takes up all this time? And have things changed since the pandemic introduced hybrid and flexible working patterns? In this week’s episode, my colleague Bethan Staton hosts a wide-ranging (and eye-opening 👀) discussion with Suzi Ring, the FT’s legal correspondent, and Craig Coben, a former senior investment banker at Bank of America and now an FT Alphaville contributing writer.

Dear Jonathan 📩

The question: I seem to be stuck in a “progression rut”. I work as a communications manager in a small team, but I don’t have direct responsibility for anyone. If I want to progress to a role with more responsibility, “line manager experience” is listed as an essential requirement, however I don’t have any. Is there anything I can do to address this? Female, 30s

Jonathan Black’s advice: Making the step into line management can appear to be an insurmountable barrier because of the risk-aversion of employers, who only seek applicants who are already doing the particular role they seek to fill.

That leaves people like you wondering how to get ahead. Even if there is a vacancy at your own organisation, it can be difficult for internal candidates to achieve that step up. That’s partly because management recognise you’re doing a great job and would quite like that to continue, and also because it is difficult for the people who hired you for your current role to see you in a managerial position 🙄.

The only option may be to move to a new organisation. How can you demonstrate previous line management experience, or its equivalent? An answer may lie with internal projects or external activities. Have you managed any short-term freelancers on specific projects? It may be a videographer who came in for a day, an external podcaster/newspaper coming in to interview senior staff, or when you co-ordinated colleagues with external PR — all of these could be used to describe managing people.

Externally, are you involved in managing volunteers at a charity, chairing a school committee, or organising an event for an activity or hobby group? Any of these demonstrate line management skills and experience, and help you answer interview questions such as, “Tell us about a time you line managed a team and . . . happened.”

If you don’t have any of these experiences, or would like to add more, then volunteer for extra assignments, both inside and outside work. You could, for example, seek out and offer to manage a student project 💡 — many universities seek to engage students on voluntary short projects to gain meaningful experience in the business world. This benefits the students, would benefit you if you managed the project, and should yield some useful information for the organisation — all at no financial cost.

Got a career question for Jonathan Black? Email [email protected]. We anonymise all contributions.

Five top stories from the world of work

1. Wall St banks tackle workloads of junior staff: Long hours are nothing new in investment banking, but some of the banks are asking staff to log their hours or are capping them at 80 hours a week. Joshua Franklin, Suzi Ring and Ortenca Aliaj cover the ongoing debate about whether this is helpful or not. Lots of interesting comments, too.

2. The difficult work conversation AI helped me with: Lots of tips here from Emma Jacobs on how AI can help unblock our procrastination and uncertainty, especially when it comes to the emails we are putting off.

3. Are directors of founder-led companies being set up to fail? Tales of big egos and monstrous management abound in start-up land. Here, Anjli Raval examines the pitfalls for board members in founder-led organisations — and what can help.

4. My search for the perfect work soundtrack: Jo Ellison tries — and fails — to come up with the perfect blend of background noise and productivity-enhancing easy listening. Lots of great suggestions from readers in the comments.

5. Hard Graft at the Wellcome Collection: I reviewed this big (free) exhibition at London’s Wellcome Collection. It’s all about the physical and emotional labour of the jobs that too often go unseen — and financially unrewarded. Well worth a visit if you are nearby.

One more thing . . . .

Lots of people on my LinkedIn feed this week shared the same amazing animated data visualisation from James Eagle on how people met their partners, 1930 -2024. As you might expect, family, school and friends feature at the top of the charts in the 20th century, but the changes after internet dating was introduced . . . will surprise you, even on the fourth or fifth viewing🌹.

This week’s giveaway

Five Generations at Work by Rebecca Robins and Patrick Dunne is the book we all need to navigate a multigenerational workplace. I talked to Rebecca about the subject for this newsletter a few weeks ago, ahead of publication. We now have 10 copies to give away. Enter on this form by 5pm UK time on Monday October 21 and we will pick winners at random from all eligible entrants. [To clarify, our book giveaways are global 🌎— the publishers will post to you!]

And finally . . . calling HR professionals 🙋🏽‍♂️

The FT is running an in-person session of its HR Forum with a breakfast-time panel at Bracken House, our HQ in the City of London, on the subject of “Building a Multigenerational Workforce”. It’s on Wednesday November 20, at 8.30am to 11am. Speakers include Louise Ballard of Atheni and author Rebecca Robins (see the book giveaway above).

If you’re interested in coming along, register your interest on this form and the organisers will be in touch.