The sexual harassment and misconduct allegations against Gregg Wallace, the MasterChef judge, have garnered significant media attention over recent weeks. Although these allegations have been denied and investigations are still ongoing, they underscore the importance for employers of effectively handling complaints of harassment and taking preventative measures to ensure a safe and respectful workplace.

In this article, we will explore the definition of harassment, the appropriate response that employers should have to historical harassment claims and steps employers can take to prevent harassment in the workplace.

What is Harassment?

Harassment is prohibited in the workplace under the Equality Act 2010.

The legal definition of harassment is ‘unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic which has the purpose or effect of either violating the dignity of an individual or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment’.

The general definition of harassment only applies in relation to unwanted conduct related to one of the relevant protected characteristics. These are age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a worker or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. For more information about the new legislation requiring employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, read our recent article The New Duty on Employers to Prevent Sexual Harassment Comes into Force on 26th October 2024.

‘Banter’

A few of the allegations against Gregg Wallace centre around accusations of making inappropriate jokes to colleagues. Employers should be aware that just because conduct has been labelled “banter” does not necessarily mean that conduct is not “unwanted”.

The EHRC Employment Code advises that “unwanted” means the same essentially as “unwelcome” or “uninvited”. It also emphasises that conduct can be considered unwanted even if no explicit objection is raised at the time. Employers should be mindful that an employee’s tolerance of conduct over time or even participation in “banter”, does not necessarily indicate that the conduct itself is not “unwanted“.

Historic Allegations of Harassment

The allegations made against Gregg Wallace appear to be mostly historic allegations covering a 17-year period. Generally, claims for harassment must be brought within 3 months (minus 1 day) from the date that the harassment occurred. However, employment tribunals have the discretion to extend the time limit for bringing a claim where they consider it would be just and equitable to do so.

Employers should wherever possible investigate historic complaints of harassment to reassure staff that such behaviour is taken seriously and not tolerated and to minimise the risk of similar issues arising in the future. This is particularly relevant since 26 October 2024 when the duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment was introduced.

Steps Employers can take to Prevent Harassment in the Workplace

1. Having in place effective policies and procedures

It is important that employers have appropriate, effective and well-communicated policies and practices in place to prevent harassment. These policies should be developed in consultation with trade unions, or other worker representatives. The policies should be monitored and regularly reviewed.

It is recommended by the EHRC that employers have separate policies to deal with sexual harassment and harassment related to protected characteristics, or alternatively one policy which clearly distinguishes between the different forms of harassment.

2. Detecting and encouraging reporting of harassment

Employers should be proactive in detecting the warning signs of harassment rather than solely relying on employees to raise the issue.

The EHRC has advised that warning signs could be:

• Sickness absence
• A change in behaviour
• Comments in exit interviews
• A dip in performance
• Avoidance of a particular colleague

Employers should give employees every opportunity to raise issues of harassment for example through informal one-to-ones, sickness absence or return to work meetings, performance review meetings etc.

3. Implementing regular staff training that is tailored to the organisation

Employees should receive regular training on harassment and victimisation that explains what they should do if they experience harassment and how to handle complaints of harassment. Ideally, this training should be tailored to the organisation.

Supervisors and managers may need additional training on how to respond to or report a complaint of harassment, investigating complaints, taking disciplinary action and supporting workers.

4. Carrying out risk assessments

Employers should make assessments of the risks of harassment occurring in the course of employment. This is particularly relevant in relation to sexual harassment as the EHRC technical guidance advises that employers are “unlikely to be able to meet the requirement of the preventative duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers, if they do not carry out a risk assessment.”

When undertaking risk assessments employers should:

1.     Consider the risks of harassment occurring in the course of employment;

2.     Produce an action plan setting out the preventative steps that they will take to address the risks;

3.     Consider which of those steps it would be reasonable to take; and

4.     Implement those reasonable steps.

How can we help?

We can help by:

• Assisting with risk assessments.
• Providing training tailored to your organisation on harassment and how to avoid harassment in the workplace.
• Reviewing your harassment policies and procedures to make sure they are up to date and work in practice.
• Providing advice on how to fairly and sensitively handle a complaint of harassment/sexual harassment.

For more information, please contact the Geldards Employment Team