As you probably know, the Worker Protection Act 2023 comes into force on 26 October 2024, placing a new duty on all employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.
Key to this is the confidence of staff to speak up.
This is a good opportunity to reflect on your organisation’s speak up culture and to ask yourselves some searching questions.
- Do staff know how to speak up and to whom?
- How safe do your staff feel to speak up – whether as someone subject to sexual harassment in the workplace, or as a bystander who has witnessed behaviour in others?
- How confident are you that you can act quickly to ensure that anyone who speaks up about such matters is listened to through the appropriate process – HR or whistleblowing?
- What support mechanisms do you have in place for staff speaking up?
- Are your confidential contacts trained to listen and how are they supported?
- What are the barriers to staff speaking up about such a sensitive matter and how are you overcoming them?