Nearly one in eight employers fail to provide sexual harassment training, survey finds

Nearly one in eight employers did not provide sexual harassment training, despite growing legal obligations under the Employment Rights Act (ERA), according to research from VinciWorks.

A survey of 464 HR professionals found that while 81% planned to increase efforts around sexual harassment prevention, fewer than one in 20 (5%) rated their current training as excellent, and 12% said they did not offer any training at all.

The data suggested a gap between employer intentions and current practice.

While 62% of respondents said they expected to do “a bit more” on prevention, and 19% anticipated doing “a great deal more”, 43% described their existing training as “OK, could be better”.

Nick Henderson-Mayo, head of compliance at VinciWorks, said: “These numbers should concern any employer who believes they are broadly compliant. October’s ‘all reasonable steps’ standard will be tested at tribunal, and tribunals have already shown they treat stale or inadequate training as no defence at all.

“The Lidl case made that evident. The absence of documented, meaningful training was central to an award of over £50,000 in damages and a legally binding remediation agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.”

The research also highlighted concerns around whistleblowing processes.

Only 5% of respondents said they were completely confident their procedures were effective, while 39% said they were fairly confident.