As recently reported in the media, Bakers Delight has been the subject of an investigation by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) to determine its compliance with the positive duty to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate workplace sexual harassment, as far as possible.
Currently, Victoria is the only jurisdiction that places this positive obligation on employers. Although these laws are uniquely Victorian – for the moment – the new Federal Government has announced its intention to adopt this new positive obligation nationwide.
The VEOHRC chose to investigate Bakers Delight because retail is considered a high-risk industry for sexual harassment. In its report, the VEOHRC found that Bakers Delight did not have in place a sexual harassment prevention plan or central register to record complaints and had not provided staff with adequate training in relation to how to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. In response to these findings, Bakers Delight entered into a compliance agreement with the VEOHRC to:
- develop and provide sexual harassment training programs for all employees, managers and the Human Resources team;
- develop an internal policy that specifically deals with complaints reporting and investigation procedures;
- develop a central register of sexual harassment reports and conduct regular risk assessments; and
- develop a prevention plan to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace.
Notwithstanding the limitations of the VEOHRC’s enforceability of the compliance agreement (i.e., it must register it with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to be legally binding), these findings send a powerful message to Victorian employers (and are a taste of what’s to come federally): doing nothing or only responding to complaints of sexual harassment when they arise will no longer be enough to comply with the law.
What should your business do?
Now is the perfect time for employers across the country to assess their existing policies and procedures and implement adequate sexual harassment prevention and response frameworks.
We will be hosting an online forum on this topic on 14 September 2022, be sure to keep an eye out for an invite.
In the meantime, if you are an employer with any questions about sexual harassment, have existing workplace policies that need reviewing and/or require training in this space, please reach out to one of our team on (03) 9448 9600.
The above is general information and should not be taken as legal advice.
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