- Conference
- 2025 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 12 February 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference is proud of the work that UNISON has achieved prior to and following the #MeToo movement in highlighting and tackling the pervasive and unacceptable culture around sexual harassment.
However, UNISON’s own surveys in 2024 show how much further there is to go, with one in ten healthcare workers reporting that they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace and one in ten female support staff in schools. It is clear that it continues to be prevalent despite high profile campaigning and widespread public condemnation.
In 2023 a TUC poll also found that in two out of five (39 percent) recent incidents, victims were sexually harassed not by a colleague, but by a third party. Over half of younger women reported that they were the victim of a third party.
For public sector workers, and for those women who may be working in public facing roles or lone working in the community, those working unsocial hours or shift workers are at greater risk because it can also mean traveling alone to and from work, often in the dark, which increases their potential vulnerability from third parties. In UNISON’s 2024 survey of healthcare workers, two fifths experienced sexual harassment from their patients rather than their colleagues.
We know that it is not only women that experience sexual harassment, whilst men may be less likely to be a victim, it can be equally devastating, and they may also face stigma in reporting incidents.
We must continue to acknowledge and address the different experiences of women, including the disproportionate harassment of and differing experiences of Black, Young, and Disabled women. As part of the legacy of the Year of the LGBT+ worker, we are shocked to hear that nearly seven in ten LGBT+ workers have been sexually harassed at work.
Lower paid women in the public sector face a secondary factor caused by serious power imbalances with figures of authority such as doctors, teachers and senior managers leading to fear and intimidation in reporting. For those working for private or outsourced companies, such as those in social care or childcare, they may not have access to HR support, sexual harassment training or policies to protect them.
Conference welcomes the Worker Protection Act that came into force on 26 October 2024 which introduced a new proactive obligation on employers to take preventative steps to eliminate workplace sexual harassment. Employers will still be expected to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment by any perpetrator, including third parties such as patients, customers, clients, service users, contractors and members of the public. However, the Act does not include liability for third party harassment.
There is still much to do to ensure that the new obligations are effective and that employers take this responsibility seriously and that public sector workers and UNISON members are protected from everyone in the workplace, no matter who they work with or where they work. Conference also welcomes the work that the TUC has been undertaking following the #MeToo movement and believes that as trade unionists we must continue to model best practises and a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to all forms of harassment.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council to:
1)Promote UNISON’s existing model policies on combatting sexual harassment, including the ‘Sexual Harassment is a Workplace Issue’ guidance, which can be found on the UNISON website;
2)Provide information to and support for branches to identify employers without a sexual harassment policy, to enable them to campaign to tackle sexual harassment in every workplace, utilising UNISON’s guide including the checklist for branches and model sexual harassment policy;
3)Ensure guidance is updated to reflect the new ‘Worker Protection Act’ with practical steps and guidance on steps employers should take to tackle third party sexual harassment;
4)Encourage all branches to ensure all employers review existing sexual harassment policies and risk assessments to include third parties, working with relevant sections of the union to ensure that it is suitable for all public sector workers, including for remote and lone workers, as well as those in outsourced or private companies;
5)Work with LAOS to update existing training to include the new ‘Worker Protection Act’ and ensure that activists are equipped to hold employers accountable;
6)Continue to campaign to strengthen the existing laws regarding sexual harassment, including liability for third party harassment and through the Labour Link, lobby the government to do so;
7)Work with the national self organised group committees to continue to highlight the different experiences of different groups of workers, building on the legacy of recent ‘Year of the’ SOG campaigns, such as Year of the LGBT+ worker;
8)Promote UNISON’s zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment within UNISON and ensure that there is appropriate support and policies in place for all members within UNISON, utilising TUC guidance and information.