The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill is a Private Members' Bill that is backed by the government. It reintroduces employer liability for the harassment of employees by third parties. The Bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 6 February 2023.
Assuming that it receives Royal Assent, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 will come into force at the end of the period of one year beginning with the day on which it is passed.
The Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) used to contain specific rules on third-party harassment, but on 1 October 2013 they were repealed. In Unite the Union v Naillard [2018] EWCA Civ 1203 the Court of Appeal concluded that the repeal of the third-party harassment provisions meant that the EqA 2010 no longer contained any provision making employers liable to failing to protect employees against third-party harassment.
The Bill rectifies this, and also introduces a specific duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment of its employees in the course of their employment. During the third reading debate in the House of Commons it was reported that the Government Equalities Office (GEO) will support the EHRC in the creation of a statutory code of practice on sexual harassment and harassment in the workplace. The code will be based on the technical guidance that the EHRC published in 2020. It will be the subject of consultation and will be introduced as the new legislation comes into force.
Where the tribunal finds that an individual has been sexually harassed it will have to consider whether and to what extent the respondent has contravened the duty to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment of employees. The tribunal will have the power to order the respondent to pay a compensation uplift. The amount of the uplift may be no more than 25% of the amount awarded in compensation for the sexual harassment and must reflect the extent to which in the tribunal's opinion the respondent has contravened its duty to prevent sexual harassment.
