As we come towards the end of November, Concrew Training is fully booked for 2024, we are now taking bookings for Jan/Feb/March 2025. We are expecting high demand in 2025 as ongoing changes to legislation and Government policy impact on employers.
September 2024 – The EHRC has published it long awaited guidance on what employers need to do to meet their duty to prevent sexual harassment at work. The biggest and most important change to previous guidance is the need to carry out robust risk assessments. The EHRC now say employers are unlikely to comply with the Preventative Duty unless they have carried out robust risk assessments. Concrew Trainings suite of courses on preventing sexual harassment at work help employers understand and meet the demands of the Worker Protection Act. Day to Day risk areas that may require risk assessment might include:- Power imbalances Lone working Presence of alcohol Seasonal events like Christmas Parties Customer-facing duties Events that raise tensions locally or nationally Lack of diversity in the workforce Workers being placed on secondment Other well-known risk hotspots include inappropriate text and WhatsApp messages and personal relationships at work. Additionally employers need to consider the following: Do the examples of misconduct and gross misconduct in your disciplinary policy match or cross reference to their anti-harassment policy Do organisational policies on use of IT, communications systems and social media include appropriate warnings against online harassment and encourage workers to report it, even where such harassment takes place on personal devices Is it clear from performance objectives, that managers will be expected to deal with complaints of harassment appropriately Are reasonable steps in place to prevent sexual harassment of workers by third parties, such as clients and customers?
A one hour awareness training session for staff on the Worker Protection Act and preventing sexual harassment. We can deliver this as a generic course or preferably aligned to your inhouse policies and procedures. Find out more >>>>>>> This course was originally designed to link to each individual clients’ own policies and procedures, to add gravitas to their importance and to supplement their internal workforce training. An increasing number of clients are asking us to deliver this course in generic format. In simple terms they are still updating their policies and procedures to reflect the new legislation and EHRC preventative duty BUT recognise that the new legislation requires them to be pro-active in reducing the risk of sexual harassment at work. Running our one-hour awareness course contributes to this. It helps evidence pro-active action Our one-hour preventing sexual harassment awareness course highlights what sexual harassment looks and feels like and how to respond to it – if experienced or witnessed. It also explain a range of ways to report sexual harassment and the responses you should expect. Most organisations have existing policies that prohibit bullying and harassment with the associated reporting mechanisms – these will apply in cases of sexual harassment until updates are finalised.
New low prices on all Concrew Training Courses for the Summer of 2024. These are some of the lowest prices we have ever offered. We appreciate that money is tight and budgets stretched, but with these low prices every one can afford high quality training. Latest Prices HERE
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 will come into force on 26 October 2024. This Act introduces a new positive legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to protect their workers from sexual harassment. If an employer breaches the preventative duty, the Equality and Human Rights Commission have the power to take enforcement action against the employer. More importantly, in the event of any claim of sexual harassment going to tribunal employers will need to evidence that they have taken “reasonable steps” to prevent such harassment. In reality this means employers will need to evidence compliance with the EHRC code of practice. This code of practice is now in its consultation phase prior to going live on or before 26 October 2024. It is beyond any doubt that the code will require employers to have robust policies and procedures in place and that all staff will need to be trained in them. Concrew Training’s support options enable employers to develop robust policies and add gravitas to training role out. Find out more HERE You can participate in the consultation via the link below. Remember understanding the consultation will also help you understand, better, what needs to be in place BEFORE 26 October 2024. Employers have had a year to prepare so there is little chance that work in progress will be an acceptable defence https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/consultation-technical-guidance-sexual-harassment-and-harassment-work
If projections are to be believed “Labour” will win the General Election on 4th July 2024. If they honour their Manifesto there are some big changes to employment law on the way. Employers need to start thinking about what to do if the following Labour promises come true: Ban exploitative zero hours contracts, ending fire and rehire practices Introduce basic rights from day one of employment; including parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal Remove the discriminatory age bands currently within the minimum wage regulations Enact the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. Introduce a disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting duty for large employers Strengthen rights to equal pay and protections from maternity & menopause discrimination and sexual harassment Reform the points-based immigration system with appropriate restrictions on visas but linking immigration and workplace skills policy. Not tolerate employers or recruitment agencies abusing the visa system or breaching employment law. Employers who flout the rules will be barred from hiring workers from abroad. End the reliance on overseas workers in some parts of the economy by bringing in workforce and training plans in sectors such as health/social care and construction. Create a Single Enforcement Body to ensure employment rights are upheld.
A free guide from the DWP and CIPD has just been published. It provides practical guidance, hints and tips for recruiting and working with disabled employees. Download options HERE
To evidence fairness and avoid tribunals those carrying out individual consultations in redundancy situations need to be trained. This course is perfect Remember, in redundancy situations, there are at least 3 and more likely 5 consultations that have to take place with each affected individual employee
100% not acceptable here All organisations need to have robust “not acceptable here” sexual harassment policies in place. We have updated our course on writing and implementing policies to prevent sexual harassment at work. Worker Protection Act – updating policies & procedures
HR leaders need to gain Senior Leader support to prevent sexual harassment at work. Concrew Training now offers Worker Protection Act awareness courses and also Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work – pre policy rollout briefing sessions.