New anti-sexual harassment rules are to come into force on 6 April, despite only being laid down in Parliament two weeks ago.

HRZone.co.uk has learnt that on 14 March, women and equalities minister Harriet Harman used a statutory instrument, that does not require a debate in Parliament, to introduce the rules which impose on employers a duty of care to protect staff from sexual harassment by customers and suppliers. Tribunals will be able to award employees who successfully win cases uncapped amounts of compensation.

The regulation is one of several coming into force on 6 April, the first of the year's so-called common commencement dates for the introduction of new rules. However, while other changes have been publicised, the sexual harassment law has received little promotion.

At the time of writing, for example, the regulation update page on the website of Business Link, the government's main source of business advice, did not list the changes.

Phil McCabe, spokesperson for the Forum of Private Business, criticised the short notice and called for the law's implementation to be delayed. "While it is important to protect employees, if an extra burden in terms of administration and potential costs that might be incurred through fines is created then businesses need to be made aware as a matter of priority.

"The best scenario would be delaying it in order to better inform and give support to smaller businesses, perhaps until October's common commencement date."

Joan Pettingill, partner at hlw Commercial Lawyers, said many bosses are unaware of the new rules.

"These changes should not be underestimated – every member of staff is now protected from sexual harassment by anyone they meet as part of their work," she added.

"This includes client meetings, networking events and dealings with external suppliers. Bosses will be expected to protect their staff from harassment – or face being held liable themselves."

Reacting to the criticism, a spokesperson for Harriet Harman claimed the timeframe given for the rule changes was "perfectly normal" adding that "it more than meets all the requirements and has definitely not been shortened".