Taking ALL reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment

Is your businesses ready for the upcoming sexual harassment law changes? From 30th October 2026, businesses will face increased responsibilities when it comes to preventing workplace and third party sexual harassment. Now is the time to review your current approach and understand what action may be needed.

On 30th October, the law regarding sexual harassment in workplaces is strengthened to require employers to take “ALL reasonable steps” (rather than just “reasonable steps”) to prevent sexual harassment. It will also increase in scope to include harassment by third parties.

We have been flagging this change for months, so hopefully regular readers are well informed. But a recent survey by Acas found that about 40% of employers were still unaware of the changes. So if you know any businesses that are in this situation, please do share this article with them.

We are also running a FREE webinar entitled Navigating the harassment reforms for SMEs, which you or they are welcome to register for. It’s on Wednesday 21st October at 11:00am.

How is sexual harassment defined?

Sexual harassment is defined within the Equality Act 2010 as being unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.

It has long been illegal and employers have been liable where it has occurred. In 2024, a new preventative duty came in for reasonable steps to be taken by employers to protect employees from sexual harassment by colleagues. This new change, effective from the end of October, goes further as outlined in the introduction.

 

What is the penalty for non-compliance?

If sexual harassment occurs in your workplace and you are found by an employment tribunal to not have taken all reasonable steps to have prevented it, then the tribunal judge can uplift the compensation award by up to 25%.

 

What are “ALL reasonable steps”?

The reasonable steps are not defined in the legislation, although further guidance may be published in 2027. It will depend to an extent on the context of your business as to what’s appropriate, especially with third parties like customers and suppliers falling within the scope.

 

Are employees customer-facing? Does lone working happen? Is alcohol involved? What are the resources of the business?

 

A first reasonable step for every business, and one which will help you answer the above questions and more, is to conduct a risk assessment. This will inform you where you need to act. These could include some or all of the following:

 

An anti-harassment policy – Among other things, a good policy will define harassment and sexual harassment, cover who is protected and how to report it, highlight aggravating factors like abuse of power, and refer to how you manage it through your disciplinary and grievance policy. If you already have a well-drafted policy, ensure it is updated to reflect third-party harassment.

 

Staff engagement and training – Circulate your policy to new joiners and periodically to existing staff. Reinforce it through management via tools like an open door policy, 121s and exit interviews.

Formal training for which you keep a training record is likely to be a key defence. We offer eLearning and in-person training solutions locally. Staff need to know how to spot it, assist colleagues (especially with third parties), and report it. Managers need to know how to respond.

 

Address third party risk – Whether it is customers or suppliers, there may be specific preventative measures you can take: Signage advising that harassment of staff will not be tolerated; clauses in supplier contracts stating you expect them to be complying with this law.

 

An effective response – If, despite all of the above, sexual harassment occurs, it is essential it is dealt with robustly and fairly through your disciplinary and grievance policy. Not only will this deliver justice in this instance, but it will also signal that sexual harassment is not tolerated in your workplace.

 

Review your approach – As we’ve said, every business is different; and we would add to this that businesses change over time. So review your approach from time to time to ensure it is fit for purpose.

 

Help from The HR Dept

This is a subtle change but with significant risk attached. If you would like bespoke help getting ready for it or to enquire about our training, please contact us via 0117 970 2955 or visit our website www.hrdept.co.uk. And don’t forget our FREE webinar on Wednesday 21st October at 11:00am, which you can register for here.