Not a day goes by without Sexual Harassment hitting the news.
We have updated our courses on “Sexual Harassment Awareness” and “Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work” to reflect the latest developments and legislation.
Robust policies and training, for staff and managers, alike are essential if harassment is to be stamped out and tribunal fines are to be avoided
There have been several EDI Tribunal cases reported recently, with fines in the region of £50k to £60K.
One has to ask, why in this day and age do EDI issues reach tribunal stage?
Digging deeper it appears that too many Employers may be paying only lip service to EDI and equality legislation.
It is very easy to write and publish policies and procedures BUT unfortunately that, in many businesses is where they end.
Filed away on a hard drive, left forgotten on a website. For many organisations many of their front of house policies are more about PR and appearing compliant than actually being compliant.
If a policy is to be effective is needs to be trained out to all appropriate staff. Staff need to understand what is and what is not acceptable and have the confidence to report breaches;
Managers and leaders need to understand how to respond when a breach is identified or reported.
Not acceptable here policies demand more, far more than just words on a piece of paper
image:
Graffiti rue Knox by Stan Jourdan used under CC BY-SA
The Supreme Court has now ruled that historical holiday pay claims can be brought where there are gaps of three months or more between periods of underpayment.
This has significance for employees who have been underpaid in respect of holiday, historically. That before the Bear Scotland Vs Fulton ruling was finalised a couple of years ago.
Employers are now less able to use technical arguments to limit their liability for underpaid holiday pay claims.
Personnel Today carries a useful explanation of the issues and rulings.
Personnel Today carries a useful explanation of the issues and rulings.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/historical-holiday-underpayments-must-be-paid/
Main Image Credit:
The Law by smlp.co.uk used under CC BY 2.0
Concrew Training is pleased to release a range of Reference Guides for free download. No sign up, no payments just free PDF resources to download.
https://concrew-training.co.uk/free-guides
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All HR teams and Employers need to follow the outcome of the Leicester Employment Tribunal Appeal case between Maria Rooney (supported by the EHRC) and Leicester City Council.
In February 2022, the tribunal ruled that Ms Rooney was disabled by virtue of her symptoms of menopause combined with symptoms of stress and anxiety.
This ruling was appealed and a final ruling is expected within the next 14 days, this ruling will decide whether menopause symptoms can amount to a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act.
His Majesty’s Treasury’s (HMT) consultation
‘Ban on cold calling for consumer financial services and products’ has been responded to by the ICO.
Read the ICO response here, especially if you don’t know of the PECR.
Once has to chuckle a little, as the ICO response shows, The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) and GDPR already prohibit most cold calling.
The PECR is only 20 years old !
The problem is few marketeers have heard of the PECR and others just ignore the regulations. Consequently they continue to break the law. The proposed new legislations is designed to make the offence more prominent and close what small gaps that remain
Either way, Concrew Training’s course on the PECR is kept fully up to date and helps organisations of all types stay legal.
Concrew Training are pleased to announce updates to their popular suite of courses on equality, diversity and Inclusion.
find out more at:
https://concrew-training.co.uk/courses/equality-diversity-overview
Halfords, the UK’s largest retailer of motoring and cycling produces has been ordered to
The above follows a long and somewhat complex tribunal appeal involving attendance, risk assessments, disciplinary action, appeals and resignation.
It provides a very useful case study for HR and Operational management; illustrating just how easy it is for issues to escalate when insufficient attention is paid to EDI
Concrew Training offer high value training in EDI for staff at all levels
Read the full case history via the links below
Image:
The Law by smlp.co.uk used under CC BY 2.0
In respect of the claims against the first respondent:
a. The claims of harassment are well-founded to the extent set out in the
Reasons below.
b. The claims of direct discrimination are well-founded to the extent set
out in the Reasons below.
c. The unauthorised deduction of wages claim succeeds in respect of
deduction of pension payments.
d. The breach of contract claim in respect of notice pay is well-founded.
e. The claim for holiday pay is well founded
Additionally The House of Lords reduced the “all reasonable steps” requirements to “reasonable steps”.
The net outcome remains much the same employers will need to ensure that they have clear “Not Acceptable Here” and response policies in place, that management and staff receive regular training on:
The sheer number of sexual harassment cases hitting the headlines on an almost daily basis evidences just how widespread the issue is and increasing evidence of employees commencing litigation.
Without robust policies and evidence of staff training it will be difficult for employers to defend their position.
Additionally The House of Lords reduced the “all reasonable steps” requirements to “reasonable steps”.
The net outcome remains much the same employers will need to ensure that they have clear “Not Acceptable Here” and response policies in place, that management and staff receive regular training on:
The sheer number of sexual harassment cases hitting the headlines on an almost daily basis evidences just how widespread the issue is and and there is increasing evidence of employees commencing litigation.
Without robust policies and evidence ofstaff trainingit will be difficult for employers to defend their position.
Image:harassment – later accusation, belated accusation, many years later by Valeriy Osipov used under CC BY 4.0
The Predictable Working Act received Royal Ascent on 19 September 2023, it introduces a right for workers to request a more predictable working pattern, intending to redress the imbalance of power between some employers and workers in atypical work, encouraging workers to begin conversations with their employers about their working patterns
More information at
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-get-more-power-over-working-hours-thanks-to-new-law
