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Following a consultation, the Government has announced it will be aiding employers in implementing practises and policies which protect staff from sexual harassment as well as supporting victims in the workplace. In a report published yesterday, the Government has stated it will be introducing a new duty requiring employers to prevent sexual harassment. This would be a reformulation of the existing law, under which an employer is liable only if an incident of sexual harassment occurs and they have failed to take preventative steps. This change, it hoped, would encourage employers to take positive proactive steps to make the workplace safer for everyone. It also stated it will be looking into extending the time frame to bring cases of sexual harassment forward to an employment tribunal. If permitted, the time limit for bringing Equality Act 2010 based cases to the employment tribunal could be pushed from 3 months to 6 months. When investigating whether interns and volunteers are adequately protected by current laws, the Government found that many interns would already be protected under the current Equality Act. However, it expressed that extending protections for volunteers could have “unintended consequences”, namely the effect of administrative burden this could have on
