What are reasonable steps?
The preventative duty is anticipatory. It involves employers considering scenarios when workers might be subject to sexual harassment and taking action to prevent it from happening.
At the heart of all this is a requirement for employers to effectively assess risk and consider what reasonable steps you could take to reduce or remove that risk.
What is considered ‘reasonable’ will vary. It will depend on:
- Your size
- The sector you operate in
- The nature of any contact with third parties
- Your working environment
- Whether staff have already raised concerns
- The resources you have available.
This is balanced against the time, cost and possible disruption caused by taking the step.
If you work in a regulated environment, you will also be expected to comply with any additional standards imposed by your regulator.
You are unlikely to demonstrate compliance with your preventative duty unless you have considered each of the additional, and interconnected, areas below:
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