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Angela Rayner has said that a new law to protect interns from sexual harassment would come into play if the Labour party were to win the next general election.
The deputy leader of the opposition said that the new legislation would be a part of the party’s A New Deal for Working People campaign, which includes goals to make work in the UK more ‘secure’, ‘fair’, ‘decent’ and ‘safe’.
In October 2023, new legislation was introduced giving employers the responsibility to take the necessary steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Labour has said they are committed to strengthening this legal duty.
In an Office for National Statistics (ONS) backed crime survey for England and Wales, it was found that one-in-four alleged sexual harassment cases occur in the workplace. The same survey found that one-in-nine complaints were from women who had been targeted by a colleague.
"Sexual harassment remains rife in workplaces across Britain," Rayner said at the Chartered Management Institute’s Women’s Conference.
"For any employee, but especially interns and volunteers, experiencing sexual harassment can destroy confidence and ruin early careers."
'A duty on employers'
A 2016 TUC report found that young employees were more likely to experience all forms of violence and harassment in the workplace. These figures were echoed in the same report in 2023, when three-in-five women said they have experienced harassment at work.
Clearly, young people are vulnerable to sexual harassment more than any other age group. With many people in this group at the start of their careers, this type of incident can have a profound impact on their confidence, self-esteem, and career trajectory.
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Ben Willmott head of public policy for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, comments: “Strengthening the law to require employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment could play a positive role in helping to stop this sort of behaviour and addressing toxic workplace cultures where they exist.
"However, there is already a duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment and any revision to the law would only have impact on workplace practices and behaviours if there was much more effective enforcement of employment regulation. This would need to include more support on compliance for employers, particularly SMEs, to ensure they understand the law and how to improve their people management practices to meet its requirements.”
