The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Amendment) Bill proposes to expand employers’ health and safety duties, under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, to include preventing workplace harassment. Currently, the Act requires employers to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of employees as far as reasonably practicable. The proposed Bill, scheduled for a second reading on 7 March, would add specific obligations to address violence and harassment in the workplace, with a focus on sexual harassment.
The Bill identifies harassment examples such as gender-based violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and psychological abuse. If passed, employers would additionally be required to:
The provisions largely overlap with, and codify, what employers should already be doing to meet their pro-active obligation to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace under Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023. The difference lies in the enforcement mechanisms in the event of breach. If the Bill becomes law (and that is a big ‘if’), then defaulting employers could face enforcement action by HSE including criminal liability and unlimited fines (rather than the uplifts to tribunal awards and enforcement action by Equality and Human Rights Commission found under the 2023 Act). While it’s important to note the Bill’s potential impact, Private Members’ Bills rarely become law. This Bill will probably never become law. |