We provide free employment legal advice to women in England and Wales experiencing sexual harassment at work including:
Mondays 6pm – 8pm
Tuesdays 6pm – 8pm
Wednesdays 6pm – 8pm
Fridays 10am -12pm
Our lines can get very busy, if you do not get through right away we advise you to call back later that session and try again. In the meantime, we suggest you read our comprehensive handbook which has lots of useful information and template documents that you can use.
Also, read the Acas Sexual Harassment Guidance 2021, EHRC Sexual Harassment and Harassment at Work: Technical Guidance (updated Sept 2024), Acas Code on Discipline and Grievances at Work and Acas Guide on Conducting Workplace Investigations. If you have car or home insurance, check if it includes Legal Expenses Insurance which can be used to pay for employment law legal advice.
We offer telephone interpreting services on all our advice lines. You will need to tell the adviser what language you speak, then you will be put on hold while we connect an interpreter who will translate during the call.
Worker Protection Act 2024
Right of Women successfully campaigned to change the law on sexual harassment at work. From 26th October 2024, all employers will have a duty to take reasonable to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. Failure to do so may mean employees who have been sexually harassed are entitled to a further compensation uplift of up to 25% from employers. For more information, contact our advice line above.
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
The EHRC is the equality law regulator for England, Scotland and Wales. We recommend that you inform the EHRC if you have experienced sexual harassment at work, no matter what stage you are in the process (even if you have entered into a settlement with the employer) as they may be able to use their regulatory powers to take action against the employer or fund litigation on your behalf. See more information here.
The EHRC has stated that they want to be informed about cases and issues involving, ‘serious sexual harassment, including where employers might have failed to protect a worker, and particularly involving insecure workers and those with other protected characteristics (for example, ethnic minority, disabled or LGBT workers).’ The EHRC has stated tackling sexual harassment at work is their number one priority area of work for 2024-2025. However, in 2023 the EHRC only received a handful of whistleblowing disclosures about sexual harassment, which does not accurately reflect the true scale of the problem.
We encourage survivors of sexual harassment at work to inform the EHRC about any breaches of equality law they have experienced to ensure the EHRC are using their powers effectively. See recent examples: Sainsbury’s, McDonald’s and Ikea.
For more information and advice about whistleblowing contact Protect.
You can also request funding for sexual harassment legal cases from the EHRC here and race discrimination cases can be applied for here.
If you have or are in the process of issuing an Employment Tribunal claim about discrimination (including sexual harassment) we recommend that you inform the EHRC by emailing [email protected]. See more here.
Do you have a Preliminary Hearing for a discrimination case listed at the East London Employment Tribunal? Tower Hamlets Law Centre might be able to represent you for free, email: [email protected].
Sexual harassment is a type of discrimination and may mean you are eligible for discrimination legal aid for your case, depending on your circumstances. Check to see if you qualify for discrimination legal aid here. Choose the ‘gender’ discrimination option, which includes sexual harassment. Also, ask your local discrimination legal aid provider here – (listed in the ‘Discrimination’ column of the spreadsheet) to check if you are eligible too.
Our criminal law advice line can advise you on: sexual offences including rape and sexual assault; domestic violence, harassment and stalking; coercive and controlling behaviour; reporting offences to the police and the criminal justice system; criminal injuries compensation; complaints about the police and other criminal justice bodies.
Our family law advice lines can advise you on: domestic violence and abuse; divorce, finances and property on relationship breakdown; cohabitation, finances and property on relationship breakdown; parental responsibility and arrangements for children; lesbian parenting.
We have three immigration and asylum law advice lines: our EU settlement scheme advice line; our immigration and asylum law advice line; and our professionals' advice line.
