Actress and activist Emma Watson has recently helped launch a free legal advice telephone line to support women who are experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace.

The helpline operated by Rights for Women has been established to plug what it saw as a gap in the availability of legal advice and its purpose is to ‘empower women to exercise their legal rights in the workplace’.

The helpline currently operates limited hours and is thought to be the only service of its kind operating in England and Wales, which Emma Watson commented was ‘completely staggering’.

Women who call the helpline will be able to obtain specialist legal advice about issues such as what behaviour amounts to sexual harassment, how to raise a grievance against an employer, how to pursue a claim in an employment tribunal and how to address approaches to settle complaints.

TUC research has found that around 50% of women had experienced sexual harassment in the work place at some point in their careers.

Employers are at risk of being found to be liable for acts of sexual harassment if steps are not taken to protect employees. An employer will need to show it took all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment to defend such a claim. These reasonable steps often include having an appropriate anti-bullying and harassment policy in place, regular training about the issue and dealing with any complaints raised in a timely and reasonable manner.

It is also important to remember, that employers could be liable for sexual harassment that takes place outside of the workplace, for example at work organised social functions.

This new helpline, along with other initiatives, such as the #metoo movement are increasing employee’s awareness of their rights and how these can be enforced. It is therefore more important than ever that employers take positive action now to tighten up procedures and give the best chance of being able to rely upon the ‘all reasonable steps’ defence should a claim be pursued.

For more information on the topic, please contact Christine Hart on 01772 229 832 or christine.hart@brabners.com