Changes to Rules on Sexual Harassment and Workplace Harassment

As part of the Employment Rights Act 2025, there are new rules on sexual harassment and workplace harassment coming into force at the end of October.

Bullying and harassment are behaviours that make someone feel intimidated or offended. Harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010, with the Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthening protections and increasing employers’ responsibilities from 30^th October 2026.

Bullying and harassment can happen:

• face-to-face
• by letter
• by email
• by phone

Bullying itself is not against the law, but harassment is. This is when the unwanted behaviour is related to one of the following:

• age
• sex
• disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage and civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sexual orientation

Employers are responsible for preventing bullying and harassment – they are liable for any harassment suffered by their employees.

Sexual harassment is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature. The law (Equality Act 2010) protects the following people against sexual harassment at work:

• employees and workers
• contractors and self-employed people hired to personally do the work
• job applicants

To be sexual harassment, the unwanted behaviour must have either:

• violated someone’s dignity
• created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for someone

It can be sexual harassment if the behaviour:

• has one of these effects even if it was not intended
• intended to have one of these effects even if it did not have that effect

From 6 April 2026, sexual harassment is a ‘qualifying disclosure’ under whistleblowing law. This means that by law, whistleblowers who make a disclosure about sexual harassment are protected from:

• Unfair dismissal– if someone with the legal status of an employee is dismissed for whistleblowing, it will be treated as an automatic unfair dismissal
• Detriment

Employers now have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and create a safe working environment.

Key changes to rules on sexual harassment and harassment

From 30^th October 2026, this will cover all other forms of harassment including third-party harassment.

Employers will be expected to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees and will be obliged not to permit third parties to harass their employees. These changes will help make workplaces safer for everyone.

This is a change from the current obligation, which requires employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. 

Employers are obliged not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties, for example, customers and clients.

Employers now have a duty to anticipate when sexual harassment may occur and take all reasonable steps to prevent it. If sexual harassment has taken place, an employer should take action to stop it from happening again. This sends a clear signal to all employers that they must take reasonable preventative steps against sexual harassment, encourage cultural change where necessary, and reduce the likelihood of sexual harassment occurring.

What can employers do:

Although the guidance is not specific at the moment, some steps to start thinking about are:

• Complete a risk assessment for the business – taking all reasonable steps to show what risks you have and how to mitigate them. Add low, medium and high-risk actions.
• Put up signage in business premises to demonstrate that you have taken all reasonable steps.
• Build a framework for third-party harassment
• Train your managers on the changes and what to do
• Consider employee awareness/training on any changes to policy and procedures

Training for your managers and staff

Training both managers and employees on sexual harassment is an important part of creating a safe and respectful workplace. Everyone should understand what sexual harassment is, what behaviours are unacceptable, how to recognise potential concerns, and how to report them.

With further changes coming into force from 30^th October 2026, it is also important that your workforce understands what these changes mean and the role they have in helping to prevent harassment in the workplace.

At HPC, we offer two dedicated training courses to help your organisation meet these requirements: one designed for employees and one specifically for managers. Our courses provide practical guidance to help your people understand their responsibilities, recognise inappropriate behaviour and respond appropriately to concerns.

Sexual Harassment Prevention Training: Leadership Course

This course is designed to equip leaders with insight into new legislative requirements, sexual harassment and third-party sexual harassment liabilities, and best practices for maintaining a safe, compliant workplace. Find out more about this course here.

Sexual Harassment Awareness and Reporting

This course focuses on understanding sexual harassment, reporting procedures, and supporting a respectful workplace. This session is designed to help employees identify, report, and prevent harassment in the workplace while supporting each other in maintaining a respectful and safe environment. Find out more about this course here.

Sexual Harassment and Workplace Harassment Webinar

We are hosting a peopleHUB webinar on Wednesday 16^th September, 10 am – 10:25 am, focusing on the new rules on sexual harassment and harassment in the workplace.

Victoria Brown will cover the strengthened legal duty on employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, the introduction of employer liability for third-party harassment, and the wider legislative changes introduced in the last couple of years, including enhanced whistleblowing protections and the Worker Protection Act.

For more information and to register for free, please click here.

To find out more or to discuss the upcoming changes to the rules on sexual harassment and workplace harassment, please get in touch with our team.

T: 0330 107 1037

E: contact@hpc.uk.com

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