Although Pride marches and events take place in the UK at different times throughout the summer, June is celebrated worldwide as Pride Month.
The official international theme for Pride this year is “Threads of Connection – Woven with PRIDE.” This theme celebrates the strength and unity of LGBTQ+ communities through mutual support and the celebration of diverse identities.
A key focus of Pride month is to encourage individuals and communities to advocate for legal protections against discrimination.
But how does this translate into the workplace? When speaking to employers, we often discuss potential discrimination and how to avoid this in the workplace. We constantly look for ways to support our clients to remove barriers and to make their businesses inclusive for everyone.
How can I make my workplace more inclusive?
Developing a diverse, engaging and inclusive workplace can take time. Equality ensures that everyone can access the same opportunities, diversity is concerned with valuing the differences between people and inclusion is a measure of how safe and welcome people feel.
It’s important to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Challenge negative attitudes, avoid unconscious bias, and create policies to ensure equal and fair treatment of all staff.
Do I need a policy?
While there’s no strict legal requirement for businesses to have a written equal opportunities policy, it’s a highly recommended best practice. The Equality Act 2010 mandates that employers ensure a workplace free from discrimination, and having a clear policy helps demonstrate commitment to this and will underpin your stance and set out your expectations to the workforce, (including contractors, agency temps and casual workers.)
From 26 October 2024 the law tightened up, with the aim to strengthen protection for employees against harassment in the workplace. The Worker Protection Act amends the Equality Act 2010 and introduces a proactive legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers now face more stringent expectations and potentially more severe consequences if they fail to meet this obligation, including the possibility of having to pay additional compensation in sexual harassment claims.
What is harassment?
Unwanted physical contact, banter, inappropriate messages or emails and comments about personal appearance or clothing and lifestyle choices may all be considered harassment.
Do I need to put a stop to all banter in the workplace?
Banter is often the heartbeat of an organisation, it’s these little interactions, often playful and generally good natured, that can help keep us sane when we’re up against it. Certainly, not all banter is harassment.
Banter can constitute harassment if it’s “unwanted conduct” related to a relevant protected characteristic such as sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment etc, which has the purpose or effect (even if unintentional) of either violating an employee’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. The fact that the employee has previously put up, or even joined in, with banter doesn’t necessarily mean the conduct isn’t unwanted. There may also be circumstances where banter was deemed to be OK in the early stages, but it later oversteps the mark and becomes unwanted. It can be difficult to assess whether workplace banter has overstepped the line into harassment, as it’s not quite as simple as saying certain comments are clearly banter and others aren’t. The tests that are applied are legal ones and will include an employment tribunal considering the employee’s reasonable perception of the banter they are subjected to.
How do I protect my staff?
As highlighted recently in the Harrods case, employees must be able to raise concerns without fear of repercussion or intimidation.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also released official guidance on how to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Guidelines include:
- Have a robust anti-sexual harassment policy and review it regularly.
- Carry out risk assessments.
- Train your staff on how to stay safe and how to report any incidents.
- Have a clear reporting procedure and act quickly to deal with complaints.
- Make third parties aware of your zero-tolerance stance.
- Take appropriate action against anyone found guilty of sexual harassment.
How to I protect my business?
Robust policies and evidence that staff have been educated will not only protect your staff but also your business as this will reduce your vicarious liability in the event of a tribunal claim. An individual work colleague can also be named as a respondent in a claim of harassment. If an employee “goes rogue” and does not adhere to your policy and you have evidence that they have been educated and were aware of the policy then it is more likely that you will be in a better position to defend a claim, whereas your rogue employee may be personally liable for any award. If you would like advice on how to deal with a complaint or grievance, are interested in providing training (face to face or e-Learning) for your workforce, or would like to find out more about how to make your workplace more inclusive then please contact us.