The Employment Rights Act 2025 will make employers liable for the harassment of their employees by third parties, where they have failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment. For information on this change, and steps which employers can take to facilitate compliance with this new duty, please see our related article on preventing liability for third-party harassment.

From 30 October 2026, changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (“ERA 2025”) will impose an enhanced duty on employers to prevent the sexual harassment of their employees.

This article explores what will change, considerations for employers and steps that can be taken to facilitate compliance with the enhanced preventative duty which will apply from 30 October 2026.

What is the current position?

• Since October 2024, employers have a duty to take “reasonable steps” to prevent the sexual harassment of its employees (known as ‘the preventative duty’).
• Employees cannot bring a standalone claim if they allege that the employer has breached the preventative duty. If an employee brings a successful claim of sexual harassment against their employer, the employment tribunal will automatically examine whether the preventative duty has been breached. 
• If an employment tribunal finds that the preventative duty has been breached, it can uplift the compensation awarded to the employee by up to 25%. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (“EHRC”) may also take enforcement action.   

What will change from 30 October 2026?

From 30 October 2026: 

• Employers will be under an enhanced duty to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent the sexual harassment of its employees. The duty to take “all reasonable steps” is consistent with the existing statutory defence against an employer's vicarious liability for the actions of their employees. 
• Employees will still be unable to bring a standalone claim if they allege that the employer has breached the preventative duty – breach of the preventative duty will be examined in the same way and attract the same remedy. 
• Additionally, from 30 October 2026, a power for the government to make regulations specifying evidence-based steps which employers must take to prevent sexual harassment will be introduced. However, the government has confirmed that the regulations won’t take effect until 2027/28. 

Considerations for employers

• While it may appear that employers are in a difficult position (i.e. under a duty take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment, but with no statutory guidance on what constitutes ‘reasonable steps’ expected until 2027/2028), the EHRC’s Technical Guidance and 8-step guide to preventing sexual harassment at work provide examples of actions able to be taken to prevent and deal with sexual harassment in the workplace. In particular, employers should be aware that the Technical Guidance states that “an employer is unlikely to be able to comply with the preventative duty unless they carry out a risk assessment”. 
• Clarification that the “all reasonable steps” duty will be consistent with the existing statutory defence against an employer's vicarious liability for the actions of their employees, and the case law on employer’s vicarious liability, confirm the pro-active and diligent approach employers must take to argue that they have taken “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment. It will not be enough to merely have a sexual harassment policy, and have employees undertake ‘box-ticking training’. Employers must take practical steps to implement policies and provide focussed training (with the content of the training reviewed and refreshed) on a regular basis. Ultimately, the employer will need to demonstrate that it lives and breathes its policies and training rather than just paying lip service to them.  

What steps can employers take? 

Ahead of the enhanced duty coming into effect from 30 October 2026, employers should take the following steps:

• Review and update existing framework in place: employers should already have measures in place given the existing duty to take “reasonable steps” to prevent the sexual harassment of their employees. These measures should be reviewed (in particular policies, training and any complaints of harassment should be audited) and it should be considered whether any further steps can be put into place given the enhanced duty.
• Review risk assessment: the Technical Guidance is clear that employers without a risk assessment will be unlikely to be able to comply with the preventative duty. Therefore, employers should review existing risk assessments in light of the enhanced duty (ensuring that these are tailored to the employer’s specific working environment and practices and identify the risks and the control measures in place), identify if any further reasonable steps can be taken to mitigate the risk of sexual harassment within the organisation, and action accordingly. 

How can we help?

If you would like to discuss how our team of experienced employment lawyers can support your organisation, please get in touch. You can also find further resources on all things ERA 2025 on our ERA 2025 hub.