Sexual Harassment Legislation Sessions & Workshops
Sexual Harassment Legislation
Sexual harassment training and compliance has become a key requirement for UK employers following the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, which came into force on 26 October 2024. Employers now have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, including risk assessment, staff training and proactive prevention measures. As employment law and workplace expectations continue to evolve, organisations are expected to strengthen their policies, reporting systems and leadership awareness to remain compliant and reduce risk.
Whistleblowing protections are also being strengthened so that employees who report sexual harassment are supported under enhanced legal safeguards.
Attend our Sessions or Workshops.
For this reason, we at Gravitate HR have developed a series of Sessions, Workshops and consultancy services to ensure businesses are fully covered for what lies ahead.
Option 1: HR Session, Creating an inclusive working environment
(1 hour online session, £200+VAT)
This session is intended for all staff and raises awareness of the characteristics and benefits of an inclusive workplace, and to stimulate discussion about appropriate steps to promote inclusivity in your workplace. The session will also raise awareness of the duties and responsibilities to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
- Introduce Company workplace cultural values
- Why is an inclusive work environment important and what does it truly mean – open discussion
- Practical considerations in work – norms and behaviours discussed, personal reflection on impact on working relationships and client interactions
- Prevention of Sexual Harassment in work – other factors that can create a point of difference and possible friction – non protected characteristics, open dialogue, impartial ways to raise concerns and support for staff
- Establish the role of employment policies in a regulated environment – leading on equality, diversity and inclusion, grievance and harassment policies. Introduction of updated anti-harassment policy and how it is utilised in practice/responsibilities of Company (bespoke to business)
- Collective summary – ownership and responsibilities across all staff – what are we going to do differently and it starts now
- (Tailoring the session to the company values, people culture and stakeholders for participant engagement i.e Staff or Senior Managers session. Enhancing genuine and honest feedback to improve learning takeaways and opportunities for L&D growth)
- including how concerns can be raised safely and appropriately
Option 2: Workshop Session, Creating an inclusive working environment
(1 hour online session, £200+VAT)
This session is intended for leaders and managers to educate and inform about their responsibilities in relation to preventing sexual harassment and to provide a platform for identifying appropriate strategies and actions for the business.
- Confirm the objectives and intentions for the session and beyond. To meet the change in law made by the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, in force from 26 October 2024, and associated EHRC guidance on taking ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment. This sets out the following requirements:
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- Employers must be proactive in assessing risk, identifying action and regularly review their processes.
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- Developing and widely communicating a robust anti-harassment policy, which includes third party sexual harassment
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- Undertaking regular risk assessments to identify where sexual harassment may occur and the steps that will be taken to prevent it
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- Being proactively aware of what is happening in the workplace and any warning signs, by engaging with staff through 1-2-1s, surveys and exit interviews
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- Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of actions.
- Establish the role of employment policies in a regulated environment – leading on equality, diversity and inclusion, grievance and harassment policies
- Values – Overview of Company internal cultural values. Open conversation to encourage shared opinions of own experiences and understanding of current challenges in the workplace
- Behaviours to support inclusion – Raise awareness of the protected characteristics, both seen and unseen, when supporting an inclusive workplace environment. Discussion around cultural norms, individual prejudices and subjective views that form behaviours and our responsibilities individually
Cont…
- Case Law examples introduced – highlighting how companies get it wrong and practical engagement throughout these assessing and quantifying time/financial costs to the company within each
- Process Driven Support – Reviewing equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace – the role of effective investigations; having and responding to difficult conversations in work; leading by example and managing expectations across policies. Ensuring a space to have open conversations with staff, including the importance of evidence, robust process, possible outcomes including remedial actions. Being workplace equality and inclusion champions
- Embedding effective reporting routes (grievance and whistleblowing) to ensure early identification and resolution of concerns
- People Driven Prevention – Measures to prevent unfair treatment and encouraging empathy towards colleagues within a diverse workforce. How to foster an open and honest working environment through difficult conversations and leading by example. Encourage group discussion and reflecting the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 requirements, in force from 26 October 2024, to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
- Q&A
- Get participants to commit to what they are you going to do differently? What to take back and share? What if any further support do you need?
- (Tailoring the session to the company values, people culture and stakeholders for participant engagement i.e Staff or Senior Managers session. Enhancing genuine and honest feedback to improve learning takeaways and opportunities for L&D growth).
Option 3: HR Project
£hourly agreed or monthly/retained+VAT, which can include all or some of the following:
- Updates required to Employee Handbook/Policies. Bespoke Sexual Harassment policy updates to your company handbook and employee update form to recognise changes/responsibilities to staff. Training can be agreed for responsible managers on site to ensure effective use of each update/requirement.
- Support to customise and carry out an Anti-Harassment Risk Assessment audit and maintained tracker for employers to prevent, track and maintain duty of care audits.
- ESG company/department Audit.
- People and Culture review.
Who is it for?
Our Workshops will be delivered by Margery McBain (Founder of Gravitate HR), members of the team and if applicable Marianne McJannett (Head of Employment at Bellwether Green).
When & Where?
We can deliver this as/when required by you, across the Central Belt of Scotland, ideally in-person but an online option is also available.
How to Arrange?
To discuss this further, please just get in touch or click to schedule an initial call.
HDR UK has worked with the team at Gravitate from the very early days of our inception, and they have offered HR and recruitment support and advice at many stages of our journey. In the last couple of years, they have supported significant growth in the team, allowing us to not only grow in terms of headcount but also to support improvements with our HR systems, process, guidance and changes in our working practices. More recently, Margery has worked with me to realign our senior team structure to position us to more deliver the next phase of our strategy, an important exercise to retain talent in our leadership and focus our energies on strategically critical functions. The Gravitate team is professional, knowledgeable, responsive and we have valued their expertise.
We started working with Gravitate at a difficult time for our business during the Covid-19 crisis, they provided us with great support with the many HR challenges caused by the pandemic, so much so that we decided to retain their services on a permanent basis.
Gravitate have advised us on a wide range of issues from downsizing, policy development, contracts, and day-to-day employee relation issues. They are able to bring clarity and structure to our discussions and help turn our ideas and objectives into practical, tangible actions.
I would highly recommend Gravitate to other employers.
Would highly recommend Gravitate HR to any business big or small. Being a smaller company we outsource our HR requirements and Gravitate have supported our business for a number of years now ensuring we are compliant on all HR aspects which is particularly important to us especially being a smaller company and not having a dedicated internal HR representative and knowing their professional support is only a phone call away.
Very approachable, friendly and knowledgeable staff, we know we will receive the best possible service whenever we require support.
Gravitate HR has helped us with various aspects of HR over the years and the benefits to us have been the quick response and being able to pay for services as and when we require them. No enquiry is too big or small and we greatly benefit from the in depth advice offered in any situation.
A wonderful team to work with!
We have used Gravitate for a number of years now and find their service exceptional. Being able to chat to a HR professional at a moments notice is a wonderful asset out our company. Their advice is not only practical but also very considered to each situation. As a business we value our staff hugely and need to ensure our policies reflect this. Gravitate have been instrumental in creating many of these policies and being able to utilise their skills and experience is very reassuring. We would have no hesitation in recommending Gravitate to any business looking for expert HR support.
Absolutely excellent service, I spoke with Rae and Laura who were both very easy to work with and super helpful along the way. We now have a dedicated HR system that works with easy to use policies in place.
Would recommend to any business looking for some help or advice.
How did you first become introduced to Gravitate HR?
We started working with Gravitate during the pandemic when we needed practical hands-on support to implement some of the legal advice which we had received around restructuring our business after Covid. This initial project then grew into retained HR service to support our Heads of Department and HR Manager with day-to-day HR issues when they were managing with less resources on site.How would you describe the range of HR services that you receive?
Gravitate have supported us with a range of services since we started working together, aside from day-to-day transactional HR advice we have also worked together on more strategic projects such as policy reviews, legislative changes, restructuring and change management.
Gravitate have also supported our management team with an onsite training workshop, and remote advice & coaching support on HR/ER issues. They also act as a strategic sounding board to help the General Manager crystallize his strategic vision for the team and how best to implement this.What change has this allowed the organisation to realise and how have Gravitate HR specifically contributed to this.
This year we have been working on a wide program of cultural change in our organization, based on a vision for our intended optimal Guest Experience and Employee Culture in the hotel. Gravitate have helped support us with the implementation of this from a people perspective including enhancing our Employer Value Proposition, changing our Organization Chart, and improving our Employer Branding.What do you value in the relationship with Gravitate that has moved the relationship from the initial project to a retained one?
What we value most about Gravitate is the personal relationships and service, we work very closely with the same two advisors who over time have built up an extensive and intimate knowledge of our business, team and culture. I have worked with other HR consultants before where you never speak to the same person twice, but through our relationship with Gravitate they have become an extended part of our hotel team.Would you recommend this outsourced service to other organisations?
I would have no hesitation in highly recommending Gravitate to other companies who want to enhance & develop their HR resource in a professional and cost effective way.
We have worked with the Gravitate HR team for the last ten years. Initially their remit was to ensure that our staff guidance, employment policies and procedures were kept up to date on an annually basis. However as we have grown from 15 to 70 staff members Margery, Neil, Laura and the team have provided invaluable advice and support to our business. This has ranged from helping to resolve complicated staff issues through to providing support for our annual appraisals. They have effectively become like our own HR department.
We started working with Gravitate HR when we needed HR support in reviewing our terms and conditions, policies and procedures. This initial project then grew into retained HR service to support our Managers with day-to-day HR issues.
Gravitate have supported us with a range of services since we started working together, aside from day-to-day transactional HR advice we have also worked together on more strategic projects such as policy and contractual reviews.
Gravitate have also supported our management team onsite and remotely with advice on various HR issues. They act as a strategic sounding board to the Directors and we feel confident we’re approaching any HR issues the right way. Their team demonstrate an excellent balance of professionalism, advice and support to all aspects of HR advice.
What we value most about Gravitate is the experienced hands-on support we receive. There is always someone at the end of the line and our HR Manager has an excellent understanding of our business and HR requirements, and always offers practical advice. Gravitate HR generally work with us remotely, but on occasion, have come on-site when required, and this blended approach works extremely well for us.
I would highly recommend Gravitate HR as an HR partner to other companies.
