Understanding the Evolving Landscape of Sexual Harassment Prevention
The world of work is changing and so are the expectations on employers.
New legal duties around preventing sexual harassment came into play in October 2024, marking a major shift from reacting to issues to actively preventing them. And there is more change to come with a “zero tolerance” approach coming in 2026, so you need to be ready.
Here we’ll unpack what’s changed, what’s coming, and how your organisation can stay both compliant and confident.
Proactive prevention becomes mandatory
- Employers must now take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.
- Importantly, this is anticipatory. You cannot sit back and wait for a complaint; you need to assess where harassment might happen and act to prevent it.
- This duty reaches beyond “employee versus employee” and into third-party territory (clients, customers, contractors) where your workers may be subject to sexual harassment.
Stronger enforcement and consequences
- While an employee cannot go to an employment tribunal and sue their employer simply for not having robust policies and training just yet, if an employment tribunal finds harassment has occurred and your duty wasn’t met, compensation may be uplifted by up to 25%.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) now has clearer powers to investigate employers’ compliance with the duty, even without someone making a claim.
“Reasonable steps” now defined as more than basic measures
What counts as “reasonable” will vary by organisation, but the EHRC updated its technical guidance to help you map what needs doing. Key considerations include:
- The size, nature and resources of the employer.
- The working environment and risk profile (including of third parties).
- Whether previous steps have been effective or require revision.
Immediate practical steps you should already have underway
The current legal advice offers this baseline action-list for employers:
- Review and update your anti-harassment and third-party harassment policies to reflect the new duty.
- Conduct a risk assessment specifically focused on scenarios where sexual harassment could occur – not just if, but how.
- Provide training and engagement for managers and staff so the policy doesn’t just sit on a shelf and is widely understood.
- Establish clear reporting channels, procedures for responding, monitoring and follow-up.
- Regularly monitor, evaluate and revise your measures. This is not a one-and-done checklist.
What’s coming: The 2026 “Zero Tolerance” approach
While the measures above raise the tide, the real wave is gathering. The forthcoming Employment Rights Bill (ERB) signals further tightening, anticipated in 2026, that will raise the bar from “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps”, among other changes.
Here’s what you need to know:
- The Bill proposes that employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, meaning a much stricter threshold.
- It also offers stronger protection for workers: e.g. harassment disclosures may be treated as protected disclosures under whistle-blowing legislation.
- The enforcement environment is expected to become more rigorous with fewer excuses and higher expectations of employer action and culture.
Put simply: the new duty effective since October 2024 is the launch pad. The “zero tolerance” regime of 2026 is coming. Think of it as “harassment prevention 2.0” for your organisation.
What this means for you, the employer? (and what to do!)
To put it plainly: If you don’t act now, you risk legal, reputational and cultural failure. Here’s how to move from compliance-lite to compliance-smart.
✅ Shift mindset: from reaction to prevention
Don’t wait for “that one complaint” to hit. Your duty is to anticipate and mitigate risk. Use scenario planning: where in your business might sexualised behaviour crop up? Field teams? Hospitality clients? Conferences or social events? Map it and assess it.
✅ Build robust frameworks not tick-boxes
Effective frameworks will combine policy, training, communication, monitoring and responsive culture. For example:
- A clear anti-harassment policy that explicitly covers third-party harassment and is communicated across the organisation.
- Regular training for line managers on recognising signs, safe handling reports and making referrals.
- Risk assessments that identify functions, locations, roles where exposure is higher (e.g., customer-facing, off-site work) and then address them.
- Effective reporting routes (confidential, accessible) and follow-through, with investigation processes.
- Ongoing review: you measure, you learn, you adapt.
✅ Culture matters. Because policy alone won’t cut it
One of the biggest failures companies make: having slick documentation but a weak “tone from the top”. If leadership says, “it won’t happen on our watch”, and backs that with visible action (discipline, accountability, transparent communications) you elevate the standard. Without that, your policy is just a policy.
✅ Document everything
Because when an employment tribunal or the EHRC investigates, your records matter. Document your risk assessments, your communications, your training attendance, your incident responses, your evaluations. It’s your evidence of “reasonable steps”.
✅ Prepare for 2026 now
Think of this as Phase 1: you’re getting on top of basic prevention. But you must gear up for Phase 2, where scrutiny intensifies next year. So, start now. Being ready early gives you competitive and risk advantage.
Why this stuff matters (beyond “it’s the law”)
- Legal risk: failure to meet the new duty may not yet create a standalone claim, but it will trigger significant consequences – up to 25% uplift in compensation and enforcement by the EHRC.
- Reputation risk: in a hyper-connected era, one harassment headline can erode trust, damage employer brand and hamper recruitment and retention.
- Business risk: harassment undermines productivity, morale, engagement and diversity. A culture where people don’t feel safe will cost you more than just legal fees, it will ultimately hit your bottom line too.
- Futureproofing: With the 2026 changes looming, getting ahead means you won’t be scrambling at the last minute when the “all reasonable steps” standard becomes binding.
Final Word
From 26 October 2024, you’re no longer simply “reacting” to sexual harassment in your organisation, you’re legally required to prevent it. The duty to take reasonable steps is real. In 2026 there will be a “zero tolerance” approach so you need to be ready.
At Four Talent, we believe that compliance doesn’t have to be a burden, it can be a business enabler. By proactively building a safe, respectful, harassment-aware work environment, you not only reduce risk, you boost culture, performance, retention and employer brand.
It’s about doing the right thing.
So, let’s stop thinking “we hope this never happens to us” and start thinking “we won’t let this happen to us”
We’re ready to audit your risk, deliver your training and set you up for safer employment – get in touch to find out how we can help your business.