Friday, 11 Apr 2008
changes to maternity leave and gender harassment laws
changes to the sex discrimination act
Changes to the Sex Discrimination Act came into force on 6 April 2008. The main changes for employers to be aware of are those which affect maternity leave and sex harassment (harassment related to gender).
Maternity Leave
Employees whose expected week of childbirth (EWC) is on or after 5 October 2008 will be entitled to the same employment terms and benefits during the second 26 weeks of maternity leave (AML) as they had during the first 26 weeks of maternity leave (OML). However, employees with an EWC prior to 5 October 2008 will, during the AML period, continue to be entitled to the benefit of only the limited employment terms currently available.
This change is most likely to make a difference to contractual terms such holiday leave over the basic statutory minimum, the private use of company cars, life insurance, permanent health insurance, medical cover and other benefits such as use of mobile phones and gym memberships. It means that these will all require to be provided throughout AML (as with OML, currently) if they were provided before the start of the employee’s maternity leave period.
Sex Harassment
Employers can now be liable for sex harassment of their employees by third parties, including harassment by customers or suppliers. Liability will arise if the employer knows that the employee has been harassed at least twice by any third party and fails to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment occurring again.
The definition of sex harassment is also being widened, from harassment being on the grounds of the claimant’s own gender, to being related to the claimant’s or another person’s gender. This means that a wider range of conduct is now covered. Claims by those who witness someone else being subjected to sex harassment are also facilitated by this change.
Clearly, the practical effect of these changes is an increased scope for sex harassment claims in the workplace.
Recommendations
Many employers’ policies will make a distinction between terms and benefits during OML and AML that is being phased out. Employers should now be reviewing their maternity policies and updating them to ensure compliance. Other employment policies (such as equal opportunities and preventing harassment) may also require updating.
More widely, now is the time to carry out equal opportunities training to ensure that employees and managers understand what’s expected of them. All of this is, of course, to reduce the risks of time consuming, unnecessary and potentially expensive employment tribunal claims.