In conjunction with UKHospitality, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched a new checklist and action plan to help employers in the hospitality sector put appropriate structures in place to protect their employees from sexual harassment in the workplace. 

The guidance defines sexual harassment as “anything of a sexual nature that violates someone’s dignity or makes them feel intimidated, degraded, humiliated, offended or like they are in a hostile environment”, and it advises employers to have consistent policies for dealing with customers who behave inappropriately around staff, including warning systems, instant removal or banning. The guidance also contains safety and preventative advice, such as asking managers to avoid having a single member of staff wait on a large group, when sexual harassment is more likely to take place.

The checklist is designed to support employers through every stage of a working shift and the action plan is to help them outline what action they will take to use the checklist in their business. Although the guidance has been developed for the hospitality industry, it can be adapted and applied to any workplace.

Source: New feed