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Is Your Business Compliant With the UK's New Harassment Law?
The law around workplace harassment has changed significantly over the last 18 months.
And it's about to change again.
From October 2026, employers won't just be expected to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment. They'll be expected to take all reasonable steps.
It's a small change in wording with potentially big consequences.
Yet many businesses still haven't reviewed their policies, updated their training, or considered how these changes apply to their workplace.
If your harassment policy hasn't been opened since 2024, now is the time to act.
The Law Already Changed in 2024
On 26 October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force.
For the first time, employers were given a proactive legal duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
This shifted the focus away from simply responding to complaints after they happen. Employers are now expected to take steps to stop harassment from happening in the first place.
The risks of getting this wrong are significant.
Employment tribunals can increase compensation by up to 25% if an employer is found to have breached this duty. That uplift sits on top of any compensation already awarded to the employee. And regulators are paying attention.
Acas reported almost 5,600 calls relating to workplace harassment in the first half of 2025 alone – a 39% increase on the previous year. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has also started taking enforcement action against employers that cannot demonstrate they have taken preventative measures.
This is no longer a policy issue for HR to think about later; it's an immediate business risk.
What's Changing in 2026?
There are two key dates employers need to know.
6 April 2026: New Whistleblowing Protection
Employees who report sexual harassment are now protected under whistleblowing law.
That means an employee who raises concerns cannot legally be dismissed or treated unfavourably because they spoke up.
Whistleblowing dismissals are automatically unfair and compensation is uncapped.
October 2026: The Bar Gets Higher
This is the change that should be on every employer's radar.
The legal duty changes from taking reasonable steps to taking all reasonable steps to prevent harassment.
At the same time, employer liability expands to cover third-party harassment, including:
- Sexual harassment.
- Harassment linked to any protected characteristic.
Further guidance is expected in 2027, but the new duty comes into force first.
The next few months are your opportunity to get ahead of it.
What Does "All Reasonable Steps" Actually Mean?
The law doesn't provide a checklist.
What is expected from a business with five employees won't necessarily be the same as what is expected from a company with five hundred.
But the direction from the EHRC is clear.
Employers should be able to demonstrate that they have:
A Current Anti-Harassment Policy
Not a document gathering dust in a folder.
Your policy should:
- Explicitly cover sexual harassment.
- Be communicated to all employees.
- Reflect current legislation.
- Have been reviewed within the last 12 months.
A Harassment Risk Assessment
Employers should identify situations where the risk of harassment may be higher and put controls in place to reduce those risks.
Meaningful Training
Training should be regular, relevant and documented.
A one-off e-learning module completed years ago is unlikely to be enough.
Clear Reporting Procedures
Employees should know:
- How to raise concerns.
- Who they can speak to.
- What support is available.
- What happens after a report is made.
Ongoing Reviews
Policies and procedures need to evolve alongside your business and the law.
Having documents in place isn't enough.
Tribunals will want to know whether those documents are understood, communicated and actively used.
The Risk Most Employers Haven't Thought About
The biggest blind spot for many businesses is third-party harassment.
Your legal responsibilities don't stop with your own employees.
They can extend to the actions of:
- Customers
- Clients
- Contractors
- Suppliers
- Visitors
Consider these scenarios:
- A customer makes inappropriate comments to your receptionist.
- An employee experiences harassment while visiting a client site.
- A contractor behaves in a way that creates a hostile working environment.
The question won't simply be, "Did this happen?"
The question may be, "What had the employer done to try to prevent it?"
For businesses with customer-facing teams, contractors or off-site workers, this is an area of growing exposure.
Why This Matters for Recruitment and Onboarding
The first few weeks of employment are one of the best opportunities to set expectations.
New starters should understand:
- The standards of behaviour expected.
- How to raise concerns.
- What support is available.
- The culture your business is trying to build.
If you work with recruitment agencies or use temporary and contract staff, it's also worth reviewing how candidates are briefed before they arrive and whether responsibilities are clear on both sides.
Download Our Free Employer Checklist
We've put together a free checklist that walks through what reasonable steps look like in practice, the third-party angle in more detail, and the questions to work through ahead of October. If your policies haven't been reviewed since 2024, this is where to start.
Need advice on what these changes mean for your hiring, onboarding or workplace policies? Get in touch with us for a conversation.
