Sexual harassment

When is the change happening and what does it mean for members?

Since October 2024 all employers have been under a statutory duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. If employers fail to do so:

1. The Equality and Human Right Commission will be able to take enforcement steps against the employer
2. Employment tribunals will have the power, where a claim for sexual harassment is successful, to increase compensation awarded to the claimant by making an uplift of up to 25%.

This places a positive obligation on employers to prevent sexual harassment. The Employment Rights Act strengthens that duty by requiring employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. This is expected to come in in October 2026 and is likely to raise the standards that employment tribunals expect from employers.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission published technical guidance on the matter.

Key points include:

• The guidance makes it clear that an employer is unlikely to be able to comply with the preventative duty unless they carry out a risk assessment
• A brief eight-step guide for employers on preventing sexual harassment at work is included in the guidance
• It had been a matter for debate whether the new preventative duty was the same as the reasonable steps defence for harassment. The guidance states that it is different – being a “separate positive legal duty that requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers”
• The preventative duty only applies to sexual harassment. It does not cover harassment related to a protected characteristic (including sex), nor does it apply to less favourable treatment for rejecting or submitting to unwanted conduct
• Whether or not an employer has taken reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment is an objective test, and will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case.

Employers need to act now

Employers need to prepare now.

The AOP recommends that employers:

• Review and update existing policies
• Provide regular diversity training to staff
• Look at what else can be done to be more inclusive eg using inclusive language.

For more information see tackling racism, discrimination and harassment at work.

The AOP encourages a zero tolerance policy towards any form of harassment or discrimination, whether from colleagues or third parties. As well as being responsible for how your employees behave during the course of their employment, you should take steps to protect your staff from harassment from third parties as well.

Employers may be liable if they, for example, fail to deal with a complaint from a member of staff of harassment by a patient or contractor. From October 2026, the employer is more likely to be liable for harassment of staff by a patient.