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LEGAL VIEW By Rob Kelly
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
DON’T LET EVENTS GET OUT OF HAND
Holding an event is a great way for businesses to grow through networking, creating new links and encouraging collaboration. They can also be fun.
Whether it is an awards ceremony, business breakfast event or even a Curry Club, events could be a headache for business owners if they are not aware of the latest legislation. However, the responsibility now lies with event organisers to clearly communicate expectations around behaviour, including what constitutes harassment or other inappropriate conduct. This is critical not only to protect employees, as required under the new legislation, but also to safeguard all attendees.
One of the most recent of those pieces is the Employment Rights Bill 2024, published in October, which refers to the duty of employers to prevent sexual harassment.
In essence, if your staff are harassed by a third party on the site at an event and you haven’t taken all reasonable steps to prevent that, including issuing guidance to visitors, then you as the employer have failed in your responsibility.
East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce has now created a new code of conduct for all visitors, members and guests to all their events.
Miranda Barker, chief executive officer of the chamber, says: “Given the nature of our business and the potential risks associated with semi-social events where alcohol is served, we’ve introduced a new code of conduct. This applies to all members and attendees at our events, regardless of whether we’ve met them before or not. By doing so, we aim to create a
safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for everyone involved.”
Lisa Sourbutts, managing director of Burnley based Cube HR, says: “When it comes to holding an event, employers are at times unaware of their ‘vicarious liability’ for the actions of their employees.
“They often believe that because the event is outside of work time or isn’t held at the company premises that they don’t have any liability.
“This belief is misheld and the consequences of an employee’s misconduct or negligence can have serious implications for a business
to pre-empt any issues and be proactive in preventing sexual harassment by colleagues and third parties.
“In terms of work events employers should therefore consider what issues may arise and what they can do to stop them from happening in the first place.
“That could include training for staff which outlines their responsibilities, communicating the company policy and conducting a risk assessment to eliminate problems, for example, is a free bar really a good idea and could it lead to problems of harassment and potentially other issues relating to employee conduct?
A recent change to the Equality
Act 2010 placed a new duty on employers to take steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees
including legal action, financial losses and reputational damage.
“A number of tribunal cases, where employees have been injured due to acts of violence or have been harassed by a colleague, have found in favour of the employee and have resulted in significant compensation awards.
“In addition, a recent change to the Equality Act 2010 placed a new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.
“Under this amendment employers should try
“If employers fail to comply with their responsibilities any tribunal compensation award for sexual harassment can be uplifted by up to 25 per cent and the Equality and Human Rights Commission can also take enforcement action against the business.
“It is crucial therefore that employers understand the issue of vicarious liability and actively take steps to protect themselves for the good of their business and their employees.”
Catherine McNabb, corporate account executive at PIB Insurance Brokers, says
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