THE new Oxford City Council leader will be urged to call for stronger employment rights, with the aim of kicking out sexual harassment of workplaces.

Reporting of sexual harassment and poor treatment of women has had a high profile in recent weeks and months after allegations were made against the American film mogul Harvey Weinstein.

And a motion by a Labour city councillor has called for greater legal protections for harassed workers and better access to justice.

At a council meeting next Monday, Linda Smith will say: “Just because sexual harassment in the workplace has proven to be a tough nut to crack, it does not mean it is an intractable problem.

“Action by employers, backed up by stronger legal protections for workers, better access to justice and strong unions are all part of the solution.”

A new council leader will be selected at a Labour Party meeting tonight and they will be in position for the local authority’s meeting next week.

As a result, Bob Price will relinquish the role he has held since 2008.

The motion will ask them to write to Oxford’s MPs and ask them to work for permanent change in Parliament.

According to a report, 'Still just a bit of banter?' which was released by the TUC in 2016, 52 per cent of women asked said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment at work. Four of five women said they did not report it to their employer.

The motion calls for city council officers to devise procedures which could be used to encourage other companies which work closely with the local authority to adopt better practices.

It calls for the council to encourage companies to employ staff on permanent contracts ‘which offer decent hours and decent pay’.

All HR staff and all management should receive training on what constitutes sexual harassment, stalking and online harassment, while employers should have ‘clear zero tolerance’ to it in all forms, the motion says.

Sexual harassment in the workplace gained an even higher profile this week after the Financial Times exposed allegations of groping and inappropriate behaviour by guests at the Presidents Club Charity Dinner – an exclusive charity auction held at the Dorchester Hotel in London.

Undercover reporters from the newspaper, posing as hostesses at the event, experienced and witnessed many women being subjected to groping, lewd comments and repeated requests to join diners in bedrooms elsewhere in the hotel.

The Dorchester has said it has a zero-tolerance policy regarding harassment.