Sexual harassment prevention at work: Four priorities employers need to keep under review

From 30 October 2026, employers will face a tougher duty to prevent sexual harassment at work, alongside new liability for harassment by third parties.

For HR teams, that means revisiting existing policies, risk assessments and training. Measures that were previously considered sufficient won’t necessarily meet the new ‘all reasonable steps’ requirement.

And this shouldn’t be treated as a one-off exercise. Workplace risks change, employees move roles, managers come and go, and new issues emerge.

Here are four areas employers should keep under review.

1. Reassess workplace harassment risks

The new ‘all reasonable steps’ requirement means employers will need to consider what more they could reasonably do to prevent sexual harassment, rather than assuming their existing policies, training and processes are enough.

A generic risk assessment won’t necessarily reflect the different risks across your organisation. Customer-facing employees, remote workers, shift workers and those attending work-related social events may all face different situations.

What employers should do:

• Review risks across your organisation: Consider different roles, locations, working arrangements and activities rather than relying on a single organisation-wide assessment.
• Look beyond the physical workplace: Include remote working, digital communications, business travel and work-related social events.
• Learn from previous concerns: Review grievances, informal complaints, employee feedback and exit information to identify recurring problems or areas of concern.
• Document your decisions: Record the risks identified, preventative measures considered, actions taken and reasons behind your approach.
• Keep assessments up to date: Revisit them when working practices change, concerns arise or new risks emerge.

2. Don’t overlook third-party harassment

From 30 October 2026, employers can face liability for harassment by third parties where they have failed to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent it.

That means considering the behaviour of customers, clients, contractors, suppliers and others your employees encounter through work, not just the conduct of colleagues.

For organisations in retail, hospitality, healthcare, transport and other customer-facing sectors, this is particularly relevant. But third-party risks aren’t limited to these environments. Any employee dealing with external contacts could potentially experience inappropriate behaviour.

What employers should do:

• Set clear expectations: Communicate acceptable standards of behaviour to customers, contractors, suppliers and other third parties.
• Assess where problems could arise: Consider customer interactions, external meetings, site visits and other work-related activities.
• Make reporting straightforward: Employees should know how to raise concerns about third-party behaviour and feel confident those concerns will be taken seriously.
• Give managers clear guidance: Make sure they know when to intervene, escalate concerns or restrict interactions with third parties.
• Monitor repeat incidents: Keep records and identify individuals, locations or situations where inappropriate behaviour keeps occurring.
• Don’t let commercial pressures dictate the response: Protecting a customer relationship shouldn’t come at the expense of employee safety.

3. Make sure managers know how to respond

Policies and training are a starting point. Their effectiveness depends on whether employees recognise inappropriate behaviour and managers know what to do when concerns are raised.

Line managers are often the first people employees approach. How they respond can determine whether a concern is dealt with promptly or develops into a more serious employee relations issue.

And that’s a particular risk for accidental managers who’ve been promoted because they’re good at their jobs, but haven’t necessarily been trained to handle sensitive people matters.

A poorly handled complaint can lead to delayed investigations, inconsistent decisions, damaged employee trust and increased legal exposure.

What employers should do:

• Provide practical, role-specific training: Help employees and managers recognise sexual harassment and understand their responsibilities.
• Address workplace ‘banter’: Make sure managers can identify inappropriate behaviour, even where it’s dismissed as a joke or considered normal within a team.
• Make reporting routes accessible: Provide alternatives where concerns involve senior leaders, line managers or HR.
• Train managers to handle disclosures: They need to respond sensitively, avoid prejudging allegations and know when to escalate matters.
• Get investigations right: Ensure complaints are handled promptly, impartially and based on evidence.
• Refresh training when needed: Use complaints, case trends and employee feedback to identify gaps in manager confidence or capability.

Training shouldn’t simply demonstrate that employees have completed a course. They need to understand their responsibility and be able to apply it when it matters.

4. Keep evidence of what you’re doing

Employers need to be able to show what preventative measures they’ve taken, how those measures are being applied and whether they’re working.

Where an employee successfully brings a sexual harassment claim and the employer has breached its duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, an employment tribunal can increase the compensation awarded by up to 25%.

Having a policy on file won’t necessarily demonstrate that you’ve taken all reasonable steps. You’ll need evidence of how you’ve identified risks, communicated expectations, trained employees and responded to concerns.

This can become difficult where HR teams are relying on disconnected spreadsheets, inconsistent case records or limited reporting. Without reliable information, it’s harder to identify recurring problems or check whether the right actions have been completed thoroughly.

What employers should do:

• Assign responsibility: Make it clear who owns harassment prevention, risk assessments, training and follow-up actions.
• Keep proper records: Document risk assessments, action plans, policy communications and relevant training.
• Monitor complaints and investigations: Look for patterns across teams, locations, managers and types of concern.
• Follow through on actions: Track recommendations and corrective measures, including whether they’ve been completed and made a difference.
• Use the information you already have: Employee feedback, employee relations case data and investigation findings can help identify where further preventative action is needed.
• Review your approach regularly: Check whether existing measures remain appropriate and where changes are required.

The aim isn’t to create paperwork for the sake of it. It’s to make sure preventative measures are actually being implemented, and that you can evidence what you’ve done if your approach is challenged.

Resources to help prevent workplace harassment

Whether you’re reviewing your existing approach or addressing gaps in manager capability, these resources can help.

Preventing sexual harassment at work checklist

How does your current approach measure up?

Use our free employer checklist to review workplace risks, preventative measures and identify where further action may be needed employers reduce risk by getting it right.

Download the Preventing harassment at work employer checklist →

Preventing sexual harassment at work eLearning

Give employees practical guidance on recognising inappropriate behaviour, understanding their responsibilities and knowing how to report concerns.

Explore our Preventing sexual harassment at work eLearning →

Strengthen your employee relations approach

Our Employee Relations as a Service (ERaaS) approach combines empower® employee relations case management technology with outsourced HR advice.

It helps organisations handle sensitive cases more consistently, gives managers access to expert guidance and support, and provides HR teams with better visibility of case trends and recurring risks.

Explore our Employee Relations as a Service approach →

Don’t wait for a complaint to find the gaps

Having the right policies is a starting point. Making sure they’re followed, and being able to evidence that, is where the real work sits.

If you need support reviewing your approach, strengthening manager capability or improving how you manage and monitor employee relations cases, speak to our experts today.

Speak to AdviserPlus about your strategy →

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about UK employment law and isn’t legal advice. The legal position should be checked against legislation and official guidance in force at the relevant time. Organisations should seek appropriate professional advice regarding their individual circumstances.