Most employers will already have an equal opportunities or anti-harassment policy in place. From 30 October 2026, however, employers will need to look beyond the wording of their policies and consider what they are actually doing to prevent harassment in the workplace.
Changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 will strengthen the existing duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment. Employers will be required to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, rather than the current requirement to take “reasonable steps”.
It may seem like a small change in wording, but employers will need to be able to show what they are actually doing to prevent problems arising.
When advising employers about workplace complaints, we often need to look at what happened before the complaint was made. Had staff and managers received appropriate training? Were there known problems which had not been addressed? Did employees know who to speak to if something happened? If concerns had previously been raised, how had they been dealt with?
These are questions worth asking now, rather than for the first time after a complaint has been made.
The changes also deal with harassment by third parties. From 30 October, employers will have a new legal obligation not to permit employees to be harassed by third parties in the course of their employment. An employer may be liable where it has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that harassment.
This could arise in many ordinary working situations. It might be a customer in a shop or restaurant, a client dealing with a professional services firm, a patient or service user, a contractor, or somebody an employee encounters at a conference or work event.
Businesses whose staff regularly deal with customers, clients or members of the public should be thinking particularly carefully about this.
For example, an employee in a customer-facing role may be repeatedly subjected to inappropriate comments from the same customer. The fact that the customer does not work for the business does not mean the employer can simply ignore what is happening. If the employer knows about the behaviour, what it does about it may become important.
The risks will also vary considerably from one workplace to another. Employees working alone, late at night, at client premises or at events where alcohol is being served may face very different situations from employees working in an office during normal business hours.
In our experience, having the right policy is only part of the picture. Employers also need to make sure that managers and staff understand it, know how concerns should be raised and know what to do when an issue arises.
There is no point simply adopting a standard policy and assuming the job is done. A small office, a restaurant, a care provider and a business whose employees regularly visit clients all operate very differently. Employers need to think about where problems could realistically arise in their own business and what they can reasonably do to reduce those risks.
Staff training should form part of that review. Managers need to know what to do when somebody raises a concern and when an issue needs to be escalated. Employees should know how to report inappropriate behaviour and who they can approach.
It is also worth looking at when existing policies were last reviewed. If an anti-harassment policy has been sitting in a staff handbook unchanged for several years, now would be a good time to revisit it and make sure that it reflects both the new law and how the business actually operates.
The changes matter for employees as well. Harassment at work does not always come from a colleague or manager. If inappropriate behaviour comes from a customer, client or another third party encountered through work, the employer’s knowledge of what is happening and the action it takes can be relevant.
The new law does not mean that an employer can guarantee that harassment will never happen. The issue is whether it has taken all reasonable steps to prevent it. That makes preparation particularly important.
With 30 October 2026 approaching, employers still have time to review their policies, training and reporting procedures and, importantly, consider whether there are risks within their particular workplace which have not previously been addressed.
Our Employment Law team advises employers and employees on workplace harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, grievances, disciplinary matters and Employment Tribunal claims. We can also assist employers with reviewing their workplace policies and procedures in light of changes in employment law.
If you are an employer concerned about whether your existing policies and procedures are ready for the changes taking effect on 30 October 2026, or an employee experiencing harassment at work, please contact our Employment Law team on 01708 446781 or by email mail@mosco.co.uk
