Is your organisation ready for the imminent changes to preventing sexual harassment in the workplace?

Laws around worker protection are changing. From 30 October 2026, all employers will be expected to prove they have taken all reasonable steps to keep their workers and employees safe from sexual harassment in the workplace.

So, what does this mean for your organisation? Have you got the right measures in place?

Roland Fairlamb, associate in our employment team, unpicks the detail and considers the impact of the upcoming changes on employers.

What is the situation now?

1.   Taking ‘reasonable’ steps to prevent sexual harassment
Since October 2024, The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 has required employers to take “reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees” in the “course of their employment”. 

While there is no single definition of what “reasonable steps” means, as all organisations are different, the guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is clear that the duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace is a “preventative” duty. The onus is on employers to take steps to prevent sexual harassment before it happens. 

2.    Protecting whistleblowers
On 6 April 2026, a change was made under the Employment Rights Act 2025, adding sexual harassment to the definition of a “qualifying disclosure” in respect of section 43B of the Employment Rights Act 1996. This means that workers and employees can raise a whistleblowing complaint relying on the disclosure that sexual harassment “has occurred, is occurring, or is likely to occur”. 

The impact of this change is that any report of sexual harassment automatically counts as a “protected disclosure” and the employee making the report will be protected from detriment and unfair dismissal as a result of raising a concern. The intention of this change was to encourage any sexual harassment to be reported at an earlier stage and to improve protection for an employee reporting such behaviour. 

These changes increased the onus on employers to implement the necessary steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. It is against this background that further key changes will come into force later this month. 

What is changing?

On 30 October 2026, the responsibility for employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment will be expanded to a duty to take “all” reasonable steps.

While on the surface the change appears to be the addition of one small word, the impact is that employers will need to be even more proactive in trying to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to prevent sexual harassment from taking place. Where the duty is breached, tribunals can apply an uplift to compensation of up to 25% and the EHRC has the power to investigate and take enforcement action.

In addition, with effect from 30 October 2026, employers will also be directly liable if a worker is harassed by a third party (for example, a customer), and the employer has not taken “all” reasonable steps to prevent such harassment. This will apply to harassment related to any protected characteristic, not just sexual harassment. Employers, therefore, must consider the implications of any interactions with the public and third parties in the course of employment. 

Top tips for employers

As with the change in October 2024, there is no “one size fits all” approach, and there is therefore no single definition of “all reasonable steps”. It is understood that further guidance will be released by the EHCR, but employers need to start considering their duty in advance in order to appropriately prepare. For now, we would recommend the following practical steps, which can be taken in readiness for the change: 

• Review and update risk assessments, action plans and harassment policies to include “all” reasonable steps that can be or have been taken by the business in relation to all protected characteristics
• Identify the risks of third-party harassment and what can be done to protect against this
• Consider each aspect of the business, as there are some roles that are higher risk than others (for example, any individual who will be working alone but deals with the public or where there is a clear power imbalance within a small team)
• Review and arrange necessary refresher training for all staff regarding discrimination/ protected characteristics and harassment, and the appropriate reporting procedures. Ensure that training is “tailored” to the workforce, as tribunals will consider whether such training has been appropriate and how regularly it is reinforced
• Ensure that staff understand how to raise concerns and that managers are trained on their responsibilities to handle complaints of harassment appropriately. 

It is a daunting time for employers in many ways, but these practical steps will put employers in a good position ahead of the change coming into force in late October 2026. We also recommend keeping an eye out for the updated guidance from the EHRC and ensuring that steps are taken to incorporate such changes as we get closer to that date. 

Should you have any queries regarding the measures your business can take, please don’t hesitate to contact Roland Fairlamb at [email protected] or 0191211 7894.