Bath MP Wera Hobhouse told MPs she wasn’t “completely happy” with the changes to her bill
By Kate Whannel
Political reporter, BBC News
Workers are set to get more protection from sexual harassment in the workplace after MPs approved a new law.
The Worker Protection Bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, puts a duty on bosses to stop harassment instead of relying on employees to report incidents.
However, the bill had been watered down after opposition in the House of Lords over concerns it could expose employers to costly lawsuits.
One Tory MP said it had been “gutted”.
In order to get the bill through Parliament, Ms Hobhouse and the government reached a compromise with peers to scrap a section which made employers liable for harassment of their employees by third parties such as customers or suppliers.
The wording of the proposed law was also changed – initially it would have required employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment, but peers struck out the word “all”.
Reasonable steps could include putting in place training and carrying out impartial investigations into reported harassment.
The bill also means that there would be a 25% uplift to compensation for sexual harassment cases where an employer had failed to take the reasonable steps.
When the altered bill returned to the House of Commons on Friday, Ms Hobhouse told MPs: “I cannot stand here and say that I am completely happy with the amendments.
“But if I did not accept them the bill would not progress into law, and that would be a lot worse.
“The longer it takes for legislation preventing sexual harassment to become law, the more workers – especially women – will be left at risk of workplace sexual harassment – that would simply not be acceptable.”
Conservative MP Danny Kruger said he did not think the new law was needed.
“I am happy that we have got to a place where the bill has been effectively gutted by their lordships,” he told MPs.
“We need to stop bringing forward what I call performative legislation, intended simply to outlaw behaviour that we disapprove of.
“Immoral conversations, bad manners, action likely to cause hurt and distress. We cannot legislate against all of these actions.”
Conservative minister for women Maria Caulfield said there had been “a strong level of concern” about the proposed law but added that the government had been “eager to find a balance”.
She said she hoped the legislation would help prevent instances of sexual harassment in the future.
During its passage through Parliament, the bill received cross-party support from MPs, however it faced tougher opposition in the House of Lords.
Conservative Lord Hannan argued there were already “perfectly good, old common-law provisions” protecting people against harassment at work.
The Earl of Leicester said the bill could lead to customers having to agree to “formal and binding HR-style rules” when interacting with a business’s employees.
The bill has now been approved in both the House of Commons and Lords and will become law once it receives royal assent.
