My Lords, I put my name to this question when I first read the Bill and I have recently had some contact with the TUC in regard to this particular clause.
As we have just heard, Clause 57 repeals Section 40 of the Equality Act, which makes an employer liable for repeated harassment of their employees by third parties, such as customers, clients or service users. The liability is triggered only if an employee has suffered such harassment on three or more occasions and the employer knew of the previous incidents and had failed to take reasonable practical steps to prevent it recurring. This is an important protection. I am opposed to the repeal unless the Government can justify it. I do not think that they can.
Trade unions have provided us with many examples of their members in publicly funded and service sector jobs, such as care work, teaching, and rail and bus transport. These people routinely suffer prejudice-based harassment in the course of their work. The introduction of Section 40 of the Equality Act led to a step change among some employers, with actions undertaken to make clear to service users that harassment of their staff would not be tolerated.
The one tribunal case of which I am aware was brought under Section 40 and demonstrates the importance and workability of this provision. A care worker in a residential care home suffered repeated sexual harassment by a resident. When she complained to her employer she was told just to be patient and to wait for the resident to stop touching her. The tribunal, however, held that the employer could have taken a number of reasonable steps to protect the care worker, such as ensuring that she was always accompanied by another member of staff, speaking to the resident’s social worker or psychiatrist for advice, or adjusting the rota to minimise contact with a particular individual offering this sexual harassment. That is an example where, quite properly, this provision in the legislation worked.
People should be able to work in an environment in which they are free from harassment, whether from fellow workers, managers, employers, customers, clients of their employers or others who come on to their employer’s premises. After all, the Government accept that it is necessary to provide protection from harassment in relation to fellow workers, managers or employers, so why should employees be unprotected from harassment by customers, clients of their employers or others who come on to their employer’s premises?
Furthermore, we should bear in mind that many public sector workers face harassment from members of the general public, often from those with grievances. For example, I remember going to an office where a lot of advice on social benefits and so on was provided. The staff there was quite concerned about the way in which members of the public with grievances would make threats against them. That was a government office and steps to protect the staff there were taken. Why should that not apply in the private sector? Why should we not ensure that people acting often on behalf of public issues, sometimes on legislation that
we in Parliament have introduced, are protected from members of the public who feel that they have grievances? I hope that the Government can justify what they are doing but I do not think that they can. Therefore, I oppose inclusion of Clause 57 in the Bill.
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