In the normal course, the question of whether there is any interplay between the new duty to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment on the one hand and section 172 Companies Act 2006 on the other would be a bit of a downer at your Christmas dinner. However, if you are a director then you may wish to lift your head from the turkey and pay attention, as the question is potentially a cracker.
The proactive duty we know all about, at least pending the promised further guidance on it. If the employer does not take those steps and there is an incident of harassment (whether or not any causal connection to your failure can be established) then the compensation awarded may be increased. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will have a separate right to challenge the employer on the steps it has or has not taken. This strictly applies even where there has been no incident or allegation of harassment, though sensibly EHRC is unlikely to spend much of its time shaking down companies for not taking reasonable steps to prevent harassment which hasn’t happened.