News in Brief - Summer 2024

Duty to prevent sexual harassment at work – EHRC consultation on draft technical guidance  

The new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 is expected to come into force on 26 October 2024, introducing a new positive legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to protect their workers from sexual harassment. The EHRC has now updated its guidance to include information on the new preventative duty and is consulting on these changes.  

The guidance highlights that the duty is “anticipatory”, meaning employers should not wait for sexual harassment to happen before taking action. Employers should anticipate scenarios in which employees may be subject to sexual harassment in employment, and take reasonable steps to prevent it. If sexual harassment has taken place, the employer should take steps to stop it happening again. 

It also gives guidance on reasonable steps that employers may take, and sets out the potential consequences of failure to comply with the duty. These include enforcement action by the EHRC and a new power for tribunals to increase compensation by up to 25% where an individual succeeds in a sexual harassment claim and the employer has not complied with the preventative duty. 

The consultation lasts only four weeks and will close on 6 August 2024. 

Paternity leave and bereavement  

The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Bill received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024, becoming the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024. The act will require commencement regulations and other regulations to be brought fully into force but, when implemented, it will remove the 26-week minimum service requirement for fathers and partners to take paternity leave where the mother of a child (or the adoptive parent or intended parent in a surrogacy arrangement) dies shortly after the child’s birth.  

 Code of practice on tips 

The House of Lords approved the draft statutory Code of Practice on the fair and transparent distribution of tips on 24 May 2024, following its earlier approval by the House of Commons. Commencement regulations are now needed to bring the code, and the remaining provisions of the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, into force. It had been expected that these would come into force on 1 October 2024, but we will have to see whether this changes in light of the new Labour government. 

Carer’s leave 

The previous government and Acas both published short guidance on the statutory right to carer’s leave, which came into force on 6 April 2024. 

The government guidance provides a basic overview of the right to carer’s leave. In addition to this, the Acas guidance provides further detail about certain aspects of the right to carer’s leave. For example, it summarises an employee’s rights during carer’s leave, sets out some examples of how employees with different working patterns may choose to take leave and includes a table confirming how much notice should be provided. Acas confirms that employers do not have to pay employees for carer’s leave but suggests that they may choose to do so. It also encourages employers to be flexible over carer’s leave where possible, noting that employees may need to take leave at short notice.

Home Office publishes updated ‘Employer’s guide to right to work checks’ 

The Home Office has published an updated “Employer’s guide to right to work checks“. The update includes confirmation that the Home Office no longer requires employers to carry out repeat checks on holders of pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). A right to work check on holders of pre-settled or settled status granted under the EUSS is only required prior to the commencement of their employment.