Written by Heidi Wadsworth | 27th October 2026
The saying goes that prevention is better than cure. When it comes to workplace harassment, this is particularly true. Employers have a responsibility to take active steps to protect their people, rather than waiting for a complaint to arise before taking action.
With the legal duty to prevent sexual harassment strengthening from October 30 2026, you need to review your current arrangements and make sure you are doing everything reasonably expected to prevent harassment. This requires an understanding of the risks, clear reporting procedures and appropriate training for managers and employees.
Here, we explain what the new rules mean, the steps you should take and how we can help your business prepare.
What is changing under the Employment Rights Act 2025?
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 introduced a preventative duty on employers, which came into effect in 2024. Employers have since been required to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthens this requirement from October 30 2026, raising the standard to all reasonable steps. This means you need to take a proactive approach, identifying the risks within your business and putting appropriate measures in place to address them.
Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. This could include unwanted touching, sexual jokes or comments, inappropriate messages or the sharing of sexual images.
The Act also introduces liability for harassment by third parties. This means you can be held liable if your employees are harassed by people such as customers, clients, contractors or suppliers and you have failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.
Harassment can also relate to other protected characteristics, including race, disability and sex. You need to understand the different forms harassment can take and consider the risks your employees may face, including when working with people outside the organisation.
The steps required will depend on the circumstances of your business, including its size, resources, sector and working environment. For example, a company whose employees regularly visit customers’ premises may face different risks from one where most people work in an office.
There are other changes to be aware of, too. Since April 6 2026, disclosures about sexual harassment can qualify for whistleblowing protection, provided the relevant legal conditions are met. Further regulations are expected in 2027, but you should not wait for these before reviewing your approach.
What should employers be doing to prevent workplace harassment?
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published guidance to help you, as an employer, to understand your responsibilities and the practical steps you can take to prevent sexual harassment.
While the exact measures will depend on your business, there are nine key areas you should consider: reviewing current arrangements, assessing risks, setting expectations from the top, updating policies, encouraging people to speak up, providing clear reporting routes, handling complaints properly, delivering regular training and reviewing progress.
You should be able to demonstrate that you have considered the risks within your workplace and taken appropriate action. Having a policy or delivering a training session will not necessarily be enough on its own.
Here are the areas to focus on.
Nine steps to help prevent workplace harassment
- Carry out a review of your current arrangements
Start by looking at what your organisation already has in place. Do you have clear Dignity at Work or anti-harassment policies? Are employees aware of how to raise concerns? Do managers know how to respond if someone reports harassment?
Review previous complaints, staff feedback and training records to identify any gaps. This will help you understand which areas need attention and where further action may be needed.
- Carry out a risk assessment
Risk assessments are an important part of meeting your preventative duty. You need to consider where harassment could occur, who might be affected and what measures could help reduce the risk.
Think about situations such as working alone, business travel, work social events and differences in seniority or power. You should also consider whether employees may be exposed to inappropriate behaviour from customers, clients, contractors or other third parties.
Previous complaints and incidents can help highlight areas of concern, but it is important to look beyond problems that have already been reported. Consider how people work day to day and where further safeguards may be needed.
Record your findings, the action you intend to take and review the assessment regularly.
- Make prevention a priority for leaders and managers
Preventing harassment needs to start at the top. Senior leaders and managers should set a clear example by treating people respectfully, challenging inappropriate behaviour and taking concerns seriously.
Your employees need to understand that unacceptable behaviour will not be ignored or excused as banter. Managers should also know what is expected of them and feel confident dealing with concerns appropriately. A consistent approach helps establish a workplace culture where respect is expected from everyone.
- Create or update your policies
You should have clear policies explaining what constitutes harassment, what behaviour is unacceptable and how employees can raise concerns.
It’s best practice to review your existing Dignity at Work and anti-harassment policies to make sure they reflect the risks within your organisation and cover harassment by third parties where relevant. Plus, it is equally important to communicate these policies to employees and managers. A policy will have limited value if people do not know it exists, understand what it says or know how to follow it.
- Encourage employees to speak up
Employees may be reluctant to report harassment if they fear they will not be believed, that nothing will change or that raising a concern could affect their working relationships.
You should work to create a culture where people feel able to speak up and confident that their concerns will be taken seriously. This includes encouraging employees to report behaviour they witness, as well as incidents they experience themselves.
Managers have an important role to play here, because their response to concerns can influence whether people feel safe raising issues in the future.
- Put clear reporting procedures in place
Following on from the above, employees should know exactly how to report harassment and who they can approach for support. Where possible, provide alternative reporting routes so that someone can raise a concern if their usual contact is involve – for instance, their direct line manager.
Consider whether your procedures work for everyone, including remote workers, employees based at different sites and those who spend much of their time working with customers or clients. Make the process straightforward and explain what happens once a concern has been raised. Employees should not have to guess where to go or what to expect.
- Make sure complaints are handled appropriately
Having a reporting procedure is only part of the solution. You also need to make sure complaints are handled fairly, sensitively and promptly.
Managers should understand how to record concerns, when to escalate them and how to follow the organisation’s procedures. Appropriate support should be provided to those involved, and employers should consider what action is needed to prevent further incidents.
Where harassment involves a third party, this may mean setting clear expectations with a customer or contractor, changing working arrangements or taking further action – if it’s necessary.
- Provide regular training for managers and employees
Training is a key part of preventing workplace harassment, because it helps people recognise unacceptable behaviour and know what to do if they experience or witness harassment.
Managers need to understand how to respond to concerns, handle complaints and follow the correct procedures. Employees need to know what behaviour is expected of them and how to report something that is not right.
Training should be relevant to the audience and the risks within your business. It should also be refreshed regularly, rather than treated as a one-off.
- Monitor, review and improve your approach
Preventing harassment is an ongoing responsibility. You should regularly review complaints, staff feedback, risk assessments and training records to understand whether arrangements are working.
If an incident occurs, consider what can be learned and whether additional measures are needed. Keep records of the steps you have taken and review your approach when working arrangements or business activities change.
Regular reviews help ensure your measures remain relevant and give you a clearer picture of where further action may be needed.
What happens if an employer fails to comply?
If you fail to meet your preventative duty, you could face action from the EHRC, which has powers to investigate and take enforcement action where appropriate.
If an employee brings a successful sexual harassment claim and you have breached your duty to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment, an employment tribunal can increase the compensation awarded by up to 25%.
There are also wider risks to consider. A failure to deal with harassment can damage your business’s reputation and affect employee morale. If the behaviour reflects a wider problem within the workplace, other employees may also come forward with complaints.
Taking action now can help you reduce these risks and demonstrate that you take your responsibilities seriously.
How we can help
With the standard changing at the end of October, now is a good time to review your current approach and identify any gaps. Training is an important part of this process, helping managers and employees understand what harassment looks like, what is expected of them and how to respond to concerns.
We can provide comprehensive training for your managers and employers, plus refresher training. Use the links below to find out more:
- Workplace harassment training for managers
- Workplace harassment refresher for managers
- Workplace harassment training for employees
- Workplace harassment refresher for employees
You can also visit our preventing harassment in the workplace page for further information and resources.
Download our Preventing harassment in the workplace checklist to help your business prepare, which includes the risks you may be exposed to, and what action you should take urgently.
Download our checklist
If you would like to discuss your team’s training needs email us at training@realityhr.co.uk or call 01256 328428.
About the author: Heidi Wadsworth, Head of Learning & Development | New Business Lead
Heidi takes a hands-on, pragmatic approach to learning and development and new business , working directly with clients to understand their unique challenges, culture, and environment. She combines her extensive cross sector experience in hospitality, retail, and manufacturing with a practical understanding of what works in real workplace situations.
Heidi’s strength lies in her ability to see the bigger picture while managing the practical details. She ensures every training programme empowers delegates to achieve excellence in their roles, creating lasting change that benefits both individuals and the organisation.
