By Legal Futures Associate VinciWorks
UK employers have gone backwards on manager training in the final months before the sexual harassment duty tightens on 30 October, according to new polling of 540 HR, L&D and compliance professionals by compliance training provider, VinciWorks.
The share of employers running dedicated manager training on sexual harassment has fallen from 30% in July to 22% in October. More than three-quarters (78%) now have none, meaning managers will take the first disclosure of the new regime with no training of their own in how to handle it.
The timing matters because managers control what the law tests. An employee discloses, and within the hour a manager decides whether someone is at immediate risk, what to preserve and who to tell. Those decisions are among the first things an employment tribunal examines.
Nick Henderson-Mayo, head of compliance at VinciWorks, said, “Managers who have had no training might mistakenly promise anonymity nobody can deliver, promise action nobody can follow through on, or start working out in that first conversation who is telling the truth. Those are the kind of mistakes that can doom an employer at tribunal, but they are avoidable with strong policies and good training.”
More training, rated no better
The quantity of basic harassment training is not as much of an issue now. The proportion of employers doing no sexual harassment training at all has almost halved since July, from 14% to eight and a half per cent. However, six in ten (60%) rate their sexual harassment training as no better than “OK, could be better”, against 61% in July.
Small businesses carry the sharpest exposure. One in eight (13%) have no sexual harassment training at all, against four per cent of larger employers. Among businesses with 11 to 50 staff, that rises to almost a quarter (23%).
Ruth Mittelmann Cohen, head of legal compliance at VinciWorks, said, “A tribunal asks what steps were available to you and what you did about them. Having no training is very hard to defend, because almost no employer can argue training was beyond them. Tribunals have also found that training delivered years ago and never refreshed is essentially ineffective.”
Preparedness claimed without evidence
Fewer than one in 20 respondents (4%) say they are completely prepared for 30 October. Almost two-thirds (64%) say they are somewhat prepared, and almost a third (31%) are unsure or not prepared.
Of the respondents who described themselves as prepared, three-quarters (74%) have no dedicated manager training, and over half (56%) rated their training as no better than “OK” and four per cent run none at all.
Among small businesses with 1 to 250 staff, a third (34%) give managers the same training as everyone else, against a fifth (20%) of employers with more than 250 staff. Dedicated manager training runs at 17% in small businesses and 28% in larger ones.
Henderson-Mayo added, “Most employers have the basics, a policy and some training. But the new standard under the Employment Rights Act asks what risks you found in your own organisation, what you decided to do about each one and what evidence you have that it works.”
What employers should do before 30 October
- Carry out a documented sexual harassment risk assessment covering client entertainment, business travel, work social events, remote working and digital communications
- Train managers specifically on receiving a disclosure and on avoiding anything that could look like retaliation
- Provide more than one reporting route, so nobody has to report to the person closest to the problem
- Record the measures considered and the reasons behind each decision, including anything ruled out on cost
- Set a review date, and review whenever a complaint is made
