Worker Protection Act 2023: Protecting Employees from Harassment at Work

It requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Wera proposed this change in the law to make workplaces safer and protect employees.

Over a quarter of people who experience sexual harassment say it happens at work. This was revealed by the Office for National Statistics in 2023.¹ The report showed that more women than men faced sexual harassment that year. Seeing this data made Wera want to strengthen protections for employees against harassment.

Her work had two aims: to make employees feel safer at work and to create a more productive workplace culture. Many studies show that happier workplaces tend to be more productive. Hence Wera was confident that her Bill would benefit employers and employees.

The Worker Protection Act 2023 makes employers responsible for preventing sexual harassment towards their employees. It amends the duties of employers in the Equality Act 2010.

Under the new law employers must take “reasonable steps” to stop harassment. But if a worker thinks their boss has not done enough to stop sexual harassment then they can take their case to the Employment Tribunal. The Employment Tribunal decides on disputes between workers and employers.

If the tribunal agrees that harassment happened the employee could get compensation. The tribunal can also order the employer to pay a compensation uplift if they have not taken “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment. The uplift would increase the original compensation by up to 25%.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) offers helpful advice for bosses on how to stop sexual harassment at work.² Some important steps include:

This guidance helps employers to understand what they must do now the law has changed. Even if sexual harassment has not been reported at work the EHRC can still take action against an employer. This could happen if it is clear the employer has not taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment.

Wera worked hard to pass the Worker Protection Act after she introduced it as her Private Members’ Bill. The process of a Private Members’ Bill allows Members of Parliament to suggest laws outside of the government’s regular agenda. It is a public Bill that can be introduced by an MP who is not a Minister. This means that less Parliamentary time is given to the Bills and so they are less likely to become law.

Wera secured her Bill after balloting for a Private Members’ Bill with the number 461. This is a “lucky number” for her as she was elected as the 461st female Member of Parliament. She introduced the Bill as The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill on 15th June 2022. It was also co-sponsored by Liberal Democrat Baroness Burt of Solihull in the House of Lords.³

Wera’s Bill was supported by the government who had promised to bring forward new employment reforms in the 2019 Queen’s Speech. These reforms were inspired by recommendations made in the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices.⁴ But delays in Parliament meant the Employment Bill never materialised. Instead the government looked to Private Members’ Bills to fill the gap. As Wera’s Worker Protection Bill aimed to improve protections for employees, the government gave it their support.⁵

Wera’s goal was for the Bill to protect workers from all types of harassment. Originally the Bill said in Clause 1 that an employer must take all reasonable steps to prevent third party harassment. This means that an employer would have to prevent harassment from clients or customers.

Clause 1 focused on harassment in general rather than sexual harassment, meaning that third party harassment such as racial discrimination or homophobia would also be included. Introducing these protections would have mirrored protections originally included in the Equality Act 2010 that were taken out.⁶

But on 14th July 2023, Peers in the House of Lords opposed Clause 1 while debating the Bill at Committee stages. They said that Clause 1 would limit free speech and impact a business owner’s relationship with their staff and customers. So Clause 1 was scrapped entirely.⁷

Peers also opposed the wording of Clause 2 which said an employer had to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. Baroness Noakes said Clause 2 was too demanding on employers. She was worried that small businesses would have to take “an almost infinite number of steps” to prevent harassment.⁸ Even though employers are already expected to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent discrimination in the Equality Act 2010, her argument was persuasive.⁹ The wording of the Bill was diluted. Employers just have to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment.¹⁰

There was growing concern that the Bill proposed a ‘banter ban’. Critics of the Bill mistakenly thought that Clause 1 required employers to monitor their customers’ behaviour. Toby Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, said that pubs would have to hire “banter bouncers” to police customers’ conversations. Conservative MP Danny Kruger asked if pub owners would have to put up signs saying, ‘No banter allowed’.¹¹

This was a gross oversimplification of the Bill. It was an exaggeration to suggest pub owners would be sued because of customers’ offensive conversations. In an interview with Sky News Wera ruled out concerns that employers would have to take extreme steps to shut down conversations.¹² She insisted that the law would:

“create workplaces where people treat each other with respect and where third parties are expected to do the same. The hurdles employees have to jump when holding their employers to account for failing to protect them from harassment are too high² and victims feel silenced.”¹³

Wera has always been clear that the Worker Protection Bill should not make unreasonable demands on employers. While employers would have to take reasonable steps to protect employees, small businesses would not be expected to introduce extreme or expensive policies.

Although Wera was disappointed that substantial sections of the Bill were cut, she wanted the Bill to pass. She accepted the amendments to both clauses which meant Clause 1 was scrapped and Clause 2 was watered down. Wera discussed these amendments on 20th October 2023 in the ‘Consideration of Lords amendments’ debate. She said:

Wera wanted the Bill to pass so that employees could have stronger protections as soon as possible. But she hoped that one day the Bill would go further to protect employees from all forms of harassment and discrimination.

The Worker Protection Act 2023 came into effect as of 26th October 2024. This means employers legally have to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of their employees. But it’s clear that Wera’s efforts to make workplaces safer for employees are still as urgent as ever.

In September 2024, a BBC Two documentary uncovered allegations that the former owner Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, had sexually assaulted and raped a number of employees.¹⁴ The documentary examined whether Harrods had properly investigated the claims or whether they had covered up the allegations.

While reflecting on the allegations, Wera said that abusive behaviour was “sickening” and expressed her support for the victims. She notes that the Worker Protection Act “goes to the heart of stopping dreadful abuse and makes employers responsible in the eyes of the law for preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.”

McDonald’s has also come under fire for not protecting their employees from sexual harassment from managers and customers. The BBC launched an investigation into the allegations and the EHRC heard over 300 reports of incidents.¹⁵

While Wera’s Worker Protection Act allowed the EHRC to step in, there was still little action they could take to ensure workers were protected from harassment from customers.

But in October 2024, the tide began to change.

The Labour government introduced an Employment Rights Bill which included measures to prevent third party harassment at work.¹⁶ Wera was delighted with the government’s commitment to supporting employees after the measures were removed from her own Bill.

During the Bill’s debate the same arguments were rehashed by the Conservatives to stop employers having to prevent third party harassment. In the House of Commons, Wera slammed them for defending the indefensible and standing in the way of staff’s safety.

Nevertheless the Conservative Party’s attempts to remove protections for employees against third party harassment in the Employment Rights Bill were voted against by Members of Parliament on 11th March 2025. 409 MPs voted against it and only 105 voted in favour.

[INSERT: Labour’s Employment Right’s Bill video from folder or from link here https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/0bc807a8-669e-4e77-9861-1044ff5f2fd9?in=17:38:47#player-tabs Start time – 17:39:02. End Time – 17:44:30]

1. Nick Stripe, “Experiences of harassment in England and Wales: December 2023”, Office for National Statistics, Dec 7, 2023, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
2. “Sexual harassment and harassment at work: technical guidance”, EHRC, Jan 30, 2020, updated Sep 26, 2024, accessed Sep 27, 2024.
3.  “Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023”, Parallel Parliament, Oct 26, 2023, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
4. Matthew Taylor, “Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices”, Independent review, July 11, 2017.
5.  Jonathan Naylor, “Are Private Members’ Bills the new hope for employment law reform?”, Shoosmiths, Nov 20, 2022, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
6. Patrick Brione “Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill – Lords Stages and Amendments”, House of Commons Library, October 12, 2023, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
7.  “Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill House of Lords Committee stages debate”, Hansard, July 14, 2023, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
8.  Baroness Noakes, “Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill House of Lords Committee stages debate”, Hansard, July 14, 2023, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
9.  Equality Act, 2010, c.15 (UK) Part 8, Section 109.
10.  Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act, 2023, c.51, (UK) Section 1
11.  Toby Young, “Revision to Equality Act May Mean Pubs Have to Hire ‘Banter Bouncers’”, The Daily Sceptic, Feb 6, 2023, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
12.  Sky News, “Staff could sue employers if customers offend them under new law – but MP denies ‘banter bouncers’ will be needed”, Sky News, April 2, 2023, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
13.  Wera Hobhouse, Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill Consideration of Lords amendments, Hansard, October 20 2023, accessed Sep 24, 2024.
14.  BBC, “Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods”, Sep 19, 2024.
15. BBC, “McDonald’s workers speak out over sexual abuse claims”, July 18, 2023
16. Employment Rights Bill, Hansard, October 21, 2024.