Sexual Harassment Policy – External parties
Pod Talent has a zero tolerance policy towards Sexual Harassment of any kind.
Introduction
All members of staff are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect in our place of work. This means freedom from sexual harassment, feeling safe and supported, and having access to redress if such behaviour does arise.
Sexual harassment takes many forms but whatever form it takes, it is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 as amended. We will not tolerate it.
The law requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers. We take action to prevent sexual harassment from occurring and have clear reporting procedures for our staff to make a complaint about sexual harassment. If you have been sexually harassed, or you have witnessed sexual harassment, we encourage you to tell us so that we can deal with the matter swiftly.
Senior management has overall responsibility for the operation of this policy but may delegate elements of implementation or decision making to your Line managers. Our managers will maintain an open door policy. All of our staff have a responsibility to behave in line with the requirements of this policy.
Instances of sexual harassment or victimisation may lead to disciplinary action including termination of employment.
This policy is reviewed regularly to ensure it remains up to date and in order to monitor its effectiveness. Any changes required will be implemented and communicated to our workforce.
Scope
We deplore all forms of sexual harassment and seek to ensure that the working environment is safe and supportive to all those who work for us. This includes employees, workers, agency workers, volunteers and contractors in all areas of our Company, including any overseas sites.
Definitions
Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person. It also covers treating someone less favourably because they have submitted to or refused to submit to unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, or that is related to gender reassignment or sex.
Sexual harassment may be committed by a fellow worker, an agent of an organisation, or a third party. It does not need to occur in person. It can occur via digital means including social media sites or channels e.g. Whatsapp. Someone may be sexually harassed even if they were not the target of the behaviour. Examples of sexual harassment include, but are not limited to:
a) sexual comments or jokes, which may be referred to as ‘banter’
b) displaying sexually graphic pictures, posters or photos
c) suggestive looks, staring or leering
d) propositions and sexual advances
e) making promises in return for sexual favours
f) sexual gestures
g) intrusive questions about a person’s private or sex life or a person discussing their own sex life
h) sexual posts or contact in online communications including on social media
i) spreading sexual rumours about a person
j) sending sexually explicit emails, text messages or messages via other social media
k) unwelcome touching, hugging, massaging or kissing
Victimisation is subjecting someone to detriment because they have done, are suspected of doing, or intend to do an act which is protected under discrimination and harassment laws. It is not necessary for the person to have done the protected act in order for detrimental treatment to be considered as victimisation.
The protected acts are:
a) making a claim or complaint under the Equality Act 2010 (for example, for discrimination or harassment)
b) helping someone else to make a claim by giving evidence or information in connection with proceedings under the Equality Act 2010
c) making an allegation that someone has breached the Equality Act 2010, or
d) doing anything else in connection with the Equality Act 2010
Examples of victimisation may include:
a) Failing to consider someone for promotion because they have previously made a sexual harassment complaint
b) Dismissing someone because they accompanied a colleague to a meeting about a sexual harassment complaint
c) Excluding someone from work meetings because they gave evidence as a witness for another employee as part of an employment tribunal claim about harassment.
What To Do If You Witness Sexual Harassment Or Victimisation
If you witness sexual harassment or victimisation, you are encouraged to take appropriate action to address it. You should not take any action that may put you at risk of sexual harassment or other harm. If you feel able, you should intervene to prevent the matter continuing. If you are not able to do this, your action may include offering support to the person who has been sexually harassed and encouraging them to report the incident or reporting the incident yourself.
We have an internal reporting policy for our employees for instances or concerns of sexual harassment or victimisation. All reports will be taken seriously and investigated.
Third-Party Sexual Harassment
Third-party sexual harassment occurs when one of our workforce is subjected to sexual harassment by someone who is not part of our workforce but who is encountered in connection with work. This includes our candidates, suppliers, members of the public, clients, friends and family of colleagues, delegates at a conference, audiences, self-employed contractors.
Third-party sexual harassment of our workforce is unlawful and will not be tolerated. The law requires employers to take steps to prevent sexual harassment by third parties.
In order to prevent third-party sexual harassment from occurring, we have taken multiple steps, including:
a) attaching signage to the walls of the areas within the workplace where customers are present to warn that sexual harassment of our staff is not acceptable
b) informing external parties of our zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy in our email signatures, which will contain a link to our policy on our website too
c) informing external parties who visit our website of our zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment.
Should a customer sexually harass a member of our workforce, we will warn the client or customer about their behaviour and investigate whether any further action needs to be taken. Any criminal acts will be reported to the police.
We will not tolerate sexual harassment by any member of our workforce against a third party. Instances of sexual harassment of this kind may lead to disciplinary action including termination of employment.
Training
We provide training to all our staff on sexual harassment to ensure there is a clear understanding of, amongst other things, what sexual harassment is and how it may occur, that it will not be tolerated, expected levels of behaviour, how they can report any incidents of having been sexually harassed or having witnessed it and that acts of harassment will be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure potentially resulting in dismissal.
We ensure that all levels of management are trained on implementing this policy including preventing and managing sexual harassment in the workplace, and the procedure to follow if an allegation is reported.
We will regularly review the effectiveness of our training.
We provide refresher training as appropriate.
This policy will be reviewed regularly. If you have any questions about the policy you can contact Louise Harding, Operations Director, at louise.harding@pod-talent.com.