For any leader, HR adviser or lawyer, the word harassment can send a cold chill. It means there is an allegation that someone has experienced unwanted conduct which may have violated their dignity or created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
In legal terms, harassment under the Equality Act 2010 must be related to a relevant protected characteristic or be unwanted conduct of a sexual nature.
In leadership and cultural terms it means there is an allegation that something unacceptable has happened to one or more of your team – your biggest asset.
Harassment allegations are serious and should be addressed promptly, fairly and sensitively. Depending on the circumstances, an employer may consider temporary measures, including changes to duties or, where necessary, suspension on full pay. Suspension should not be automatic or treated as a disciplinary sanction. The appropriate procedure may involve the bullying and harassment policy, the grievance procedure and, if allegations are substantiated, the disciplinary procedure.
If harassment is proven, disciplinary action may follow, up to and including dismissal for gross misconduct. Dismissal is not automatic: the employer must reach a reasonable decision after a fair process and take account of the facts and circumstances. Acting promptly and consistently also sends an important cultural message that concerns will be taken seriously and that people will be supported when they speak up.
But it is no longer enough simply to react well after an incident.
On 26 October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 introduced a positive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers. Employers must anticipate risk and take preventative action. A policy alone is unlikely to be enough. Depending on the organisation, reasonable steps may include a tailored risk assessment, effective reporting routes, appropriate training, action to address third-party risks, and monitoring whether the measures are working.
Sexual harassment can affect any worker. Power imbalances and particular working arrangements may increase risk. Employers should avoid assusmptions about who may experience or carry out harassment and should base their prevention work on evidence and the risks present in their own organisation.
The conduct does not have to take place on the employer’s premises. Work-related events, business travel, online communications and social media activity may be covered where the conduct occurs in the course of employment or has a sufficiently close connection with work. Not every interaction outside the workplace will fall within the legislation.
All of our clients have robust policies to deal with these matters and have documentation and advice available if an incident arises. We have also supplied resources to help organisations take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
Employers can already be vicariously liable for unlawful harassment committed by their employees in the course of employment. A statutory defence may be available if the employer proves that it took all reasonable steps to prevent the employee from doing that act or anything of that description. This is a demanding, fact-sensitive defence and should not be described simply as an employee ‘going rogue’.
Two further changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 are due to take effect on 30 October 2026. First, the preventative duty concerning sexual harassment will be strengthened from ‘reasonable steps’ to ‘all reasonable steps’. Secondly, employers will be under a duty not to permit harassment of their employees by third parties. The measures apply in England, Wales and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland.
All reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment
From 30 October 2026, employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. The addition of the word ‘all’ materially raises the standard. A tribunal will consider whether there were further reasonable preventative steps the employer could have taken in the circumstances. This does not mean taking every imaginable step regardless of cost, practicality or effectiveness. ACAS explains that all reasonable steps means doing what is possible with the available resources, and the assessment will depend on matters such as the organisation’s size, sector, working arrangements and resources.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 also gives the Government power to make regulations specifying steps that may be treated as reasonable. The Act identifies possible areas including assessments, plans or policies, reporting arrangements and the handling of complaints. As at 11 September 2026, employers should continue to monitor further regulations and updated EHRC guidance.
Sanctions and enforcement
Failure to comply can have significant financial and regulatory consequences. Where an employee succeeds in a sexual-harassment claim and the employment tribunal also finds that the employer breached the preventative duty, the tribunal may increase the compensation awarded by up to 25%. Separately, the Equality and Human Rights Commission may take enforcement action for breach of the preventative duty even where no individual tribunal claim has been brought. The Fair Work Agency has a wider labour-market enforcement role, including powers relating to specified employment legislation and the ability, in appropriate cases, to support or bring employment tribunal proceedings on a worker’s behalf. However, current published material does not indicate that the Fair Work Agency replaces the EHRC as the primary regulator of the Equality Act harassment duties. Employers should therefore treat the 25% uplift and EHRC enforcement as the direct sanctions for breach of the preventative duty, while also monitoring any future extension of the Fair Work Agency’s remit.
Training is likely to remain important, but it must be effective, relevant and refreshed when necessary. In Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen [2021] the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld a finding that historic training had become stale and that refresher training was a further reasonable step. The case does not establish that the occurrence of harassment automatically proves that training was inadequate.
Employers should provide more than one safe and clearly communicated reporting route. Depending on the organisation, this may include a trained designated contact in addition to the line-management route. Reports should be handled consistently, confidentially so far as possible, and without victimisation.
Existing EHRC technical guidance already covers the preventative duty introduced in 2024 and is being updated for the 2026 changes. ACAS published specific guidance on third-party harassment on 26 August 2026. Further regulations and updated EHRC guidance may still follow.
A practical starting point is an organisation-specific risk assessment. Relevant factors may include lone working, contact with customers or service users, alcohol, work-related social events, travel, overnight stays, power imbalances, online contact, particular locations and previous incidents. Employers should consult workers where appropriate, identify measures to remove or reduce risk, record decisions, assign responsibility and review effectiveness.
Prevention measures should be supported by training for all workers and more detailed training for managers. Training should explain expected standards, reporting routes, bystander action, managers’ responsibilities, how complaints will be handled, and the steps managers must take to reduce foreseeable risks. The content and frequency should reflect the organisation’s risks rather than rely on a generic annual exercise.
Harassment by third parties
The second major change on 30 October 2026 concerns harassment by third parties. The Employment Rights Act 2025 will amend the Equality Act 2010 so that an employer must not permit a third party to harass an employee. For this purpose, an employer permits the harassment where the third party harasses the employee in the course of employment and the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.
A third party is a person other than the employer or one of its employees. This can include customers, clients, patients, service users, pupils or students, suppliers, contractors, consultants, visitors, people at conferences or events, and members of the public. Harassment may occur in person or online. Unlike the former ‘three strikes’ provisions, the new duty does not require two previous incidents before liability can arise. A single incident may be sufficient if the statutory test is met.
The previous third-party harassment provisions in the Equality Act 2010 were repealed in 2013. At present there is no equivalent standalone employment tribunal claim against an employer for third-party harassment. However, the existing 2024 preventative duty already requires employers to consider reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment by third parties, and other claims may arise depending on the facts. It is therefore unsafe to suggest that an employer is generally free of legal exposure until October 2026.
The new third-party duty covers harassment related to age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, as well as sexual harassment. Marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, but they are not included in the Act’s harassment provisions in the same way.
Customer-facing and public-facing organisations may face particular risks, but the legal test remains organisation-specific. Hospitality, retail, healthcare, education, transport, charities, professional services, home visits, events, construction and other settings may each require different controls.
ACAS guidance gives examples of possible measures rather than a mandatory checklist. These include regularly assessing third-party harassment risks; monitoring and recording incidents and action taken; maintaining an effective policy; training workers in reporting, safety and de-escalation; reviewing relevant terms with clients, customers and suppliers; communicating behavioural expectations and consequences; and making sure workers know who to contact and how to raise concerns.
In higher-risk environments, ACAS says that reasonable steps are more likely to include appropriate staffing, including security staff where relevant; safety equipment such as personal alarms; and body or security cameras for some teams or areas. These measures will not be necessary or reasonable for every employer. Decisions should reflect risk, resources, proportionality, privacy and any other applicable legal obligations, and employers should record why a proposed measure was or was not adopted.
Employers should also consider how managers can intervene safely, support affected workers, remove or restrict a third party where appropriate, preserve evidence, record the incident, review controls and guard against victimisation. Contracts and terms with clients, customers, suppliers and contractors may help communicate standards and consequences, but contractual wording alone will not discharge the duty.
One of the central challenges is determining what all reasonable steps means in the employer’s own circumstances. The safest approach is to assess foreseeable risks, consult appropriately, implement proportionate controls, train people, provide accessible reporting routes, respond consistently, keep records and review the measures after incidents or changes in working arrangements.
Perspective HR and our lawyers are available to help with this task. This blog gives a briefing on the position as at 11 September 2026. Further regulations and updated EHRC guidance should be monitored and this material should be reviewed when they are published.
We will update clients’ bullying and harassment policies to reflect the strengthened sexual-harassment duty and the new third-party harassment provisions. We will also expand the anti-bullying and harassment document pack and provide training resources for staff workshops.
Perspective HR can also provide specialist training for leadership teams. The practical response should be tailored to the organisation’s sector, workforce, working arrangements, previous incidents and contact with third parties.
If you have any concerns, please contact one of our HR Advisors by emailing hr@perspectivehr.co.uk or by phoning 01392 247436.