We highlighted The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 in last month’s edition of the newsletter.
Acas has reported that following the change in law requiring employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace calls to them have increased by 39%.
Awareness of the new law is rising; however business have uncertainty about what compliance really looks like.
The Employment Rights Bill, currently before the House of Lords, is expected to require employers to take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent sexual harassment, including harassment by third parties such as customers and clients.
Employers must adopt a more proactive approach, embedding sexual harassment prevention within organisational culture and day-to-day practices, rather than relying on policies and posters. Tick-box training and vague reporting channels no longer meet the required legal standard.
In the recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case of AB v Grafters Group [2025],
the employee was a hospitality agency worker who believed she was booked to work at a racecourse. She missed arranged transport and accepted a lift from a male colleague, who sexually harassed her while in the car. The Employment Tribunal (ET) accepted that harassment occurred but found that the colleague had not acted in the course of his employment, so the employer was not liable under s109 of the Equality Act 2010. The main reasons were that there was no requirement or expectation that he drove the employee, and the employer did not know about (and had not approved) the lift.
EAT decision
The EAT found the ET failed to properly consider whether the incident was an ‘extension of employment’. The employee argued the harassment was an extension of their employment because of prior harassing messages sent earlier in the day by this colleague while they were both on shift. The EAT has referred the case back to the original ET to re-evaluate the question of "course of employment".
Our comment
This case serves as a reminder that the term ‘course of employment’ can be interpreted widely and beyond what you might understand it to mean at first glance.
It is important to really start to understand your workplace culture and behaviours and address any ‘banter’ that may occur in the workplace before matters escalate.
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