Preventing sexual harassment

Extension of employers' legal obligation

Before 30 October 2026, employers are only required to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff in the course of their employment, including by third parties (see next section for a description of what this means).

This applies to all employees, workers, partners or directors, apprentices, and some self-employed individuals who either can't send someone else to do the work instead or have a limited right to do so.

Where the duty is breached, Employment Tribunals can uplift the discrimination compensation by up to 25%. The Equality and Human Rights Commission also has the power to investigate and take enforcement action.

From 30 October 2026 the requirement to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment is extended so that employers must (or should) take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring in their workplace (which is the case for forms of harassment based on a worker's protected characteristics). Employers will also still be liable for preventing sexual harassment by third parties.

The overall result is that both forms of harassment (sexual harassment and harassment because of a protected characteristic) are aligned.

From 30 October, the government will also have the power to make regulations that specify what 'taking all reasonable steps' means. This is likely to take the form of guidance, which is expected to be available sometime in 2027.

Preventing harassment

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published research examining the causes of workplace harassment (including sexual harassment) which also gives suggestions on how it can be prevented. This includes:

• Having an effective policy: This should set out (for example) the expected standards of behaviour, reporting procedures, timescales as well as how perpetrators of harassment could be held accountable.
• Having an effective reporting system: Employers should offer multiple ways to report incidences of harassment, including anonymous reporting, reporting via an external party and digital reporting options.
• Having good senior leadership: This is regarded as essential to success because it sets the tone of workplace culture on what is, and is not, tolerated.
• Training: This should be timely, tailored to the underlying causes of harassment in an employer's business (if any) and regularly repeated.

The government has also given more general examples of reasonable preventative steps that employers should take:

• Carrying out assessments of a specified description - likely to be risk assessments
• Publishing plans or policies of a specified description - likely to be action plans and sexual harassment policies (having an action plan will be compulsory for employers with at least 250 employees sometime in 2027)
• Steps relating to the reporting of sexual harassment
• Steps relating to the handling of complaints.