Sexual Harassment Law Changes October 2026: Is your business ready?

From October 2024, UK employers have been under a positive legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Some businesses put a policy in place, ran a training session and considered the job done. Some businesses did nothing.

From 30 October 2026, even those steps are no longer enough.

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the duty is being raised from taking "reasonable steps" to taking "all reasonable steps." For the first time in over a decade, employers will also be directly liable for harassment of their staff by third parties too, including customers, clients, contractors and suppliers. Both these changes will place a huge burden on businesses.

This isn't a minor tightening of the wording. It's a fundamental shift in what tribunals and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), will expect employers to be able to show.

What's Actually Changing in the Law on Sexual Harassment

1. "Reasonable steps" becomes "all reasonable steps." The word "all" raises the bar significantly. It will no longer be enough to point to a policy sitting in a handbook or a training session run once, some years ago. Employers will need to show a proactive, evidenced and ongoing approach to prevention, not a one-off box-ticking exercise or a generic training session held online.

2. Employers become liable for third-party harassment. This reintroduces and strengthens a duty that was repealed back in 2013. From October 2026, if a client, customer, contractor or supplier harasses a member of staff, the employer can be held liable, unless they can demonstrate they took all reasonable steps to prevent it. Crucially, this extends beyond sexual harassment to all forms of harassment relating to protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, including race and disability.

3. Sexual harassment disclosures are now protected whistleblowing. Since April 2026, a report of sexual harassment automatically counts as a protected disclosure. This means workers are protected from detriment and employees from unfair dismissal for raising it, and employers can no longer rely on NDAs to keep such complaints quiet. The direction of travel is unmistakable: prevention, not damage control, is now the expectation.

Why This Matters for Your Business

If a harassment claim reaches a tribunal after October 2026, the question won't simply be "did this happen?" It will be: "What did you do to prevent it, and can you prove it?"

Employers who can't produce evidence of a genuinely proactive approach, including a current risk assessment, an up-to-date policy, and recent, meaningful training, will find themselves significantly exposed, both to increased tribunal awards and to reputational damage. This applies to every sector, but the risk is particularly acute for businesses with staff who interact with the public: retail, hospitality, healthcare, transport and care.

Three Things Every Employer Should Do Before October 2026

The good news is that the steps needed to comply are clear. The bad news is that "we'll get to it later" is no longer a safe strategy, given how much groundwork clear compliance requires.

1. Carry Out a Sexual Harassment Risk Assessment

A generic policy is not a risk assessment. Employers need to actively identify where harassment risk exists in their organisation. This might include lone working, customer-facing roles, work social events, out-of-hours contact, or power imbalances between staff and third parties. Once these have been identified then the employer needs to document the steps taken to address each one. This assessment is the cornerstone piece of evidence a tribunal will expect to see.

2. Review and Update Your Harassment Policy

If your policy hasn't been reviewed since the 2024 changes, it's already out of date. An up-to-date policy needs to reflect the "all reasonable steps" standard, address third-party harassment explicitly, set out a clear and confidential reporting route, and align with the new whistleblowing protections for harassment disclosures.

3. Deliver Up-to-Date, Evidenced Training

A single induction slide on harassment years ago will not stand up to scrutiny. Neither will generic online training sessions. Employers need regular, role-appropriate training for all staff, with specific training for managers on how to recognise, respond to, and escalate concerns. Just as importantly, this training needs to be documented. Attendance records and content are exactly what a tribunal or the EHRC will ask to see as evidence of "all reasonable steps."

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the new sexual harassment law take effect? The higher "all reasonable steps" duty and new third-party liability rules take effect on 30 October 2026, under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Do I need a sexual harassment risk assessment? While not always a strict standalone legal requirement, a documented risk assessment will become a the key piece of evidence employers need to show they've taken "all reasonable steps." Tribunals and the EHRC will expect to see one.

Is training a legal requirement under the new law? There's no single mandated training format, but the EHRC's guidance and tribunal expectations make it very difficult to demonstrate "all reasonable steps" without regular, evidenced, role-appropriate training for staff and managers.

ACT NOW OR PAY LATER

October 2026 might feel like it's some way off, but genuine culture change and a properly evidenced prevention programme take time to build. They can't be assembled in the week before the deadline. The businesses that will be best protected are the ones that have started already or start now: assessing risk, updating policies and training staff and managers properly, before the higher standard takes effect.

Impact Employment Law can help you get ahead of this. If you haven't yet carried out a sexual harassment risk assessment, reviewed your policy, or delivered up-to-date training, get in touch. We can help you put a compliant programme in place well before 30 October 2026.

Contact Oliver Tasker today:

📞 Call: 01522 776270 ✉️ Email: oliver@impactemploymentlaw.co.uk

Impact Employment Law Limited — Advice. Protection. Impact.