Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act) Bill amended by House of Lords
The Government has previously confirmed its support for the Private Members' Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act) Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament.
In its original form, the Bill was intended to re-introduce employers' liability for third party harassment occurring in the course of employment. The Government confirmed it would support the Bill, but the third party harassment provisions drew criticism from commentators concerned about the impact on free speech and excessive state intervention in business.
The House of Lords has now significantly amended the Bill, which is in its final stages of consideration before receiving Royal Assent. The third party harassment provisions have been removed in their entirety from the revised Bill.
The Bill retains the new express duty on employers to prevent the sexual harassment of employees. The wording of this clause has been amended so that employers will no longer be required to take "all" reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, but just "reasonable steps". In practical terms, this means that the protection afforded to employees under the Bill will be diluted compared to the original protection envisaged when the Bill was brought forward.