Businesses had 'no time to prepare' for changes in law

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has criticised the government for failing to publicise changes to sexual harassment laws, which came into force yesterday.

The FPB says that small business owners did not have enough time to prepare for the changes and "meet their obligations."

FPB spokesman Phil McCabe said: "Given the additional administration and direct costs involved, the government needs to give smaller firms the support they need - which means more time to re-assess their employment policies and procedures to make sure they comply with the changes to the law."

Under new amendments to the Sexual Discrimination Act, employers can be held liable if, after three warnings, they fail to prevent staff from harassment.

According to the FPB, it is expected to cost small businesses around £10 million to comply with the legislation.

The number of employment tribunals related to sexual harassment doubled from April 2006 to March 2007, from 14,250 to 28,153, the FPB said in a statement.

A number of other business changes came into force yesterday, including the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter Act, which is also aimed at business owners.