An employment law expert has advised travel companies to take proactive steps to protect themselves against a rise in the number of claims of sexual harassment in the workplace.
Rebecca Thornley-Gibson, partner at Ince & Co, warned that the travel and tourism sector was particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment cases due to its nature.
"The travel industry is a bit of a cocktail of fun, parties, hospitality and overseas trips which could bring about situations where harassment might occur," she told delegates at this week’s ABTA Travel Law Seminar.
She said employers need to put steps into place because more claims are expected following high profile cases in other industries.
The recent ‘Me Too’ and ‘Time’s Up’ movements have given employees much greater awareness of their rights and a feeling of empowerment to bring claims, she explained.
At the same time, companies in other sectors have been moving away from quiet settlements to public naming and shaming, with the idea of protecting their corporate reputation.
"We’re definitely going to see more claims," said Thornley-Gibson.
She advised companies to carry out risk assessments on their workplace culture and to make sure employees are made aware of how they are meant to behave.
She stressed that, in legal terms, harassment can be viewed as sexual even if the alleged harasser didn’t mean for it to be, and also warned that there is now a much lower tolerance of office ‘banter’.
* See this Guest Comment from WorkAdvisor which also explores the issue of sexual harassment in the travel industry.
