Prevention of Sexual Harassment Legislation: What Employers Need to Know

Creating a workplace where everyone feels safe, respected and able to perform at their best should be a priority for every employer.

Since 26 October 2024, employers have had a legal duty to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This represented one of the most significant changes to workplace harassment law in many years and marked a shift away from simply responding to complaints towards actively preventing harassment from occurring.

However, this is only the beginning.

From October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 is expected to strengthen these obligations further by raising the legal standard employers must meet and reintroducing employer liability for harassment carried out by third parties such as customers, clients, contractors and visitors.

For employers, particularly SMEs, now is the time to review policies, training and workplace culture to ensure they remain compliant.

If you require support implementing these changes or reviewing your HR documentation, our HR team are here to help.

What changed in October 2024?

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, which came into force on 26 October 2024, introduced a new preventative duty requiring employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers during the course of their employment.

This means employers can no longer wait until an incident occurs before taking action. Instead, they must actively consider where risks may arise and implement appropriate preventative measures.

The duty applies to sexual harassment:

• Within the workplace
• At work-related social events
• During business travel
• Whilst working remotely where connected to work
• In interactions with colleagues, agency workers and third parties connected with the business.

What changes are expected in October 2026?

The Government has confirmed a further strengthening of workplace harassment protections as part of the phased implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025.

The key changes expected from October 2026 include:

Employers must take “all reasonable steps”

The legal duty will increase from taking reasonable steps to taking all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

This is a significantly higher threshold.

Tribunals will expect employers to demonstrate that they have thoroughly considered the risks within their business and implemented every reasonably practicable preventative measure appropriate to their size, sector and resources. Simply having a policy in place will rarely be sufficient on its own.

New liability for third-party harassment

Employers are also expected to become legally responsible where employees are harassed by third parties—including customers, clients, contractors, suppliers or visitors—if the employer has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that harassment.

For businesses operating in customer-facing industries such as hospitality, retail, healthcare, manufacturing and professional services, this places greater emphasis on managing the behaviour of external individuals as well as employees.

Does the duty apply to SMEs?

Yes.

There are no exemptions for small businesses.

Whilst what constitutes “all reasonable steps” will vary depending on the size and resources of an organisation, every employer is expected to proactively identify risks and implement appropriate preventative measures.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) makes it clear that all employers should be able to demonstrate they have considered workplace risks and taken action proportionate to those risks.

What is sexual harassment?

Under Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010, sexual harassment occurs where a person is subjected to unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of:

• Violating their dignity; or
• Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Protection also extends to situations where someone is treated less favourably because they rejected or submitted to unwanted sexual conduct.

Sexual harassment can include:

• Sexual jokes or comments
• Inappropriate banter
• Unwanted flirting
• Suggestive emails, messages or social media communications
• Sharing inappropriate images
• Physical touching
• Unwanted hugging or invading personal space
• Requests or pressure for sexual acts
• Repeated unwanted attention
• Offensive gestures
• Conduct that was intended as humour but has the effect of creating an offensive environment.

Importantly, it is the impact of the behaviour – not simply the intention – that is considered.

What should employers be doing now?

With the strengthened legal duties approaching, employers should already be reviewing their preventative measures.

Practical steps include:

• Reviewing and updating harassment prevention and dignity at work policies.
• Completing documented workplace risk assessments to identify where harassment risks may arise.
• Providing regular sexual harassment awareness training for all employees.
• Delivering enhanced training for managers on recognising, preventing and responding to complaints.
• Ensuring clear, confidential reporting procedures are in place.
• Investigating complaints promptly and consistently.
• Communicating expected standards of behaviour to customers, clients, contractors and suppliers.
• Including harassment prevention expectations within supplier agreements and client terms where appropriate.
• Recording the preventative steps taken so they can be evidenced if challenged.
• Regularly reviewing workplace culture, feedback and incidents to identify emerging risks.

Rather than viewing compliance as a one-off exercise, employers should treat prevention as an ongoing process.

What happens if employers fail to comply?

Employees have long been able to bring Employment Tribunal claims relating to sexual harassment.

Where an employer is found liable for sexual harassment and has failed to comply with its preventative duty, an Employment Tribunal can increase compensation by up to 25%.

In addition, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has powers to investigate organisations and take enforcement action where employers fail to meet their legal obligations.

As the legal duty strengthens from “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps”, employers are likely to face greater scrutiny over the practical measures they have taken to prevent harassment before any incident occurs.

How Norton Loxley can help

Preparing for the October 2026 changes doesn’t simply mean updating a policy.

We work with employers to build practical, legally compliant workplace cultures by helping you:

• Review and update your HR policies.
• Deliver manager and employee training.
• Develop reporting and investigation procedures.
• Ensure your business can demonstrate it has taken all reasonable steps to prevent workplace harassment.

If you’re unsure whether your current arrangements would meet the strengthened legal requirements or if your HR policies and HR documentation could benefit from a thorough review to align with the latest employment legislation changes, please reach out to discuss your specific requirements.

Get in touch with the Norton Loxley team today to arrange a review of your current HR documentation and workplace practices.