From 26 October, all employers will be under a new obligation to take “reasonable steps” to prevent the sexual harassment of employees at work. A breach of this new duty gives tribunals the power to apply an uplift of up to 25% on the compensation awarded in successful sexual harassment claims.
Compensation for sexual harassment can be made up of both past and future loss of earnings, injury to feelings, and personal injury. Compensation in sexual harassment claims is uncapped, unlike unfair dismissal claims.
Recently, we’ve seen some significant compensation awards being made to individuals who have been sexually harassed at work. Taking those cases, we’ve looked at the potential impact of the new October legislation (which provides for an uplift of up to 25% where the duty is breached) had it applied when the cases were heard.
Ms H Sommer v Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Services Ltd
Inappropriate comments made to a female employee including being told “if I had breasts like yours I’d be demanding too” and to take a “more submissive role” at work, as well as a string of other sexist and derogatory comments. The tribunal held that the manager would not have acted the same way to a male colleague.
Compensation awarded – £1,300,000
Compensation if the 25% uplift applied – £1,625,000
Miss M Hunter v Lidl Great Britain Limited
An 18-year-old Lidl employee was subjected to unwanted physical contact and inappropriate comments from colleagues. She was told to “take it as a compliment” when raising her concerns. The tribunal held that despite there being a policy in place stating that this behaviour was not tolerated, a culture of lewd remarks and unwanted conduct was commonplace.
Compensation awarded – £50,000
Compensation if the 25% uplift applied – £62,500
Mr S Nunns v SBH Windermere Limited and Mr A Wilson
A male chef successfully claimed sexual harassment after his male boss repeatedly made sexualised gestures and sang the Victoria Wood song, ‘Ballad of Barry and Freda’, at him and put specific emphasis on the repeated words “let’s do it”.
Compensation awarded – £79,000
Compensation if the 25% uplift applied – £98,750
Click here to book a demo of our ‘Preventing sexual harassment’ eLearning course – training is a key way for employers to demonstrate they’re taking reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work and avoid the potential compensation uplift.
