‘All reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment

Employers are already subject to legal obligations in respect to preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. However, the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) represents a significant shift in both emphasis and enforcement.

The act places prevention firmly at the centre of an employer’s responsibility by requiring them to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment, reintroducing liability for third-party harassment, strengthening whistleblowing protections and removing restricting confidentiality clauses.

In light of this, ERA 2025 substantially raises the bar for workplace standards and employer responsibility.

Current position

Since 26 October 2024, employers have been under a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of staff at work. In practice, this often meant having a policy in place and providing some level of training.

Employers who fail to take such steps risk a compensation uplift of up to 25 per cent in the event of a successful claim against them. As compensation awards for harassment claims are uncapped, there could be a high cost of failure to comply with the new duty. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also has the power to investigate alleged non-compliance with equality law. In the event of a breach, the EHRC can issue notices to organisations in relation to their unlawful acts.

Changes to the law in October 2026

Section 20 of ERA 2025 amends the current duty and places a positive, proactive obligation on employers to prevent harassment before it occurs. The requirement under ERA 2025 is to take “all reasonable steps”. This holds employers to a higher standard. Employers will no longer be assessed on how they respond once harassment happens, but on whether they have done everything reasonably possible to stop it arising in the first place. This change is expected to take effect in October this year.

In the Government’s factsheet on what constitutes taking “all reasonable steps”, it is acknowledged that the scope of the duty will depend on the specific circumstances of the employer. Relevant factors include the employer’s size, sector, working environment, resources, workforce composition, and the nature of interactions with third parties. Each employer must actively assess risk and tailor its preventive measures accordingly.

ERA 2025 provides for future regulations to specify what these reasonable steps are, and the Government has provided illustrations on what steps are effective in preventing sexual harassment before these future regulations are put into place.

Examples of what the steps specified in the regulations may include – but are not limited to – carrying out assessments of a specified description; sexual harassment policies; steps relating to the reporting of sexual harassment; and steps relating to the handling of complaints.

This approach aims to reduce ambiguity and ensure a consistent minimum standard across sectors, and the implication for employers is that failure to implement the steps listed in this article may be difficult to justify.

Third-party harassment

One of the most notable changes under section 21 of ERA 2025 is the reintroduction of employer liability for third-party harassment. Employers can once again be held responsible for harassment of their workers by individuals who are not employees, including customers, clients, service users, and contractors or suppliers.

Any employer will have permitted a third party to harass one of its employees if the third party harasses the employee in the course of their employment, and the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the third party from harassing the employee in the course of their employment.

Importantly, the reintroduced liability is broad in scope. It applies to harassment related to all relevant protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and to all forms of harassment, not solely sexual harassment. This significantly widens the potential exposure for employers and reinforces the need for a careful approach to dignity and respect at work.

Employers will be expected to take reasonable steps to prevent such conduct via positive actions such as implementing clear policies on third-party behaviour and making clear that harassment will not be tolerated; training staff on how to recognise and respond to harassment by non-employees; supporting workers who report third-party harassment, including clear reporting routes and protection from detriment; and taking action against offending customers or service users where possible.

The Government anticipates that these requirements will also come into force in October this year.

Sexual harassment: protected disclosures

Section 23 of ERA 2025 makes complaints of sexual harassment “qualifying disclosures” under the whistleblowing regime.

This section amends the definition of “qualifying disclosure” in ERA 1996 to include a disclosure that sexual harassment “has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur”.

This is a significant shift, and it means that workers who raise concerns about sexual harassment may be protected from retaliation even if the harassment itself does not ultimately lead to a successful tribunal claim.

This explicit legislative recognition of complaints of sexual harassment amounting to qualifying disclosures will dispel ambiguity and help raise awareness among victims and whistleblowers. This will also enable those who feel unable to raise concerns with their employer to report their concerns to the EHRC or their MP as a prescribed person. It also opens up the possibility of interim relief for employees dismissed for making protected disclosures about sexual harassment.

Conversely, it significantly reduces the scope for employers to cover up sexual harassment with a non-disclosure agreement or settlement agreement, and will inevitably change how employers investigate sexual harassment complaints, disclosures in relation to which will fall within the scope of their whistleblowing policies.

Summary

Overall, ERA 2025 marks a decisive shift in how sexual harassment is addressed in the workplace.

By moving to a framework that puts prevention at its core, the legislation makes clear that passive compliance is no longer sufficient. Employers are now expected to anticipate risk, take proactive steps to prevent harassment, and create environments in which concerns can be raised safely and addressed effectively.

The combination of the higher threshold of the “all reasonable steps”, the reintroduction of third-party harassment liability and the expansion of whistleblowing protections significantly strengthens employee protections while increasing employer accountability.

This article appeared in Vet Times (7 July 2026), Volume 56, Issue 27, Pages 16-17)