One year on, the duty to prevent sexual harassment is no longer new — but is there more that organisations should be doing to comply?

Despite the duty to prevent sexual harassment no longer being new law, according to research by WorkNest, which surveyed over 400 HR professionals, four in ten businesses have not yet carried out a sexual harassment risk assessment – and over half of businesses (54%) are concerned that they haven’t done enough to comply with their legal duty to prevent sexual harassment. 

In anticipation of further legislative changes under the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), we are encouraging our clients to bring the duty to prevent sexual harassment back to their boards and management meetings. 

One year on, now is the time to measure the success (or otherwise) of the steps put in place to comply with the duty and to review and refresh your risk assessments in consequence.

What is the Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment?

Last October, the government introduced a landmark legal obligation on employers in Great Britain to take anticipatory steps to mitigate the risk of sexual harassment claims arising in the workplace. This was in response to the rise in sexual harassment cases across various sectors including retail, healthcare, finance, and hospitality following the #MeToo movement. 

The legislation was designed to move employers away from reactive responses, once harassment had occurred, to, instead, require them to take proactive, meaningful steps to prevent sexual harassment from arising in the first place and so protect workers. 

Sexual harassment is defined in law as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. The unwanted conduct, which must have occurred during the course of employment (a concept which is widely interpreted), must have the purpose or effect of either violating the employee’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. It is perfectly possible that conduct could amount to both sexual harassment and harassment related to a protected characteristic (e.g. sex); as well as giving rise to other potential employment claims.

The duty to prevent sexual harassment obliges employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment before it occurs. This means identifying potential risks and implementing measures to mitigate them—regardless of whether any complaints have been made. This means an employer cannot avoid complying with the new duty simply because they have not had any complaints of sexual harassment within their organisation before. 

Whilst there is no standalone claim if an employer is in breach, failure to comply can result in serious consequences for the employer. Where an employee successfully brings a claim for sexual harassment and the employment tribunal finds that the employer has breached this duty, any compensation awarded to the claimant can be increased by up to 25%. Given that discrimination awards are already uncapped and often include an injury to feelings award, the financial and reputational risks for employers for failing to manage sexual harassment claims are significant. There is also the risk of potential enforcement action and penalties from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for failing to comply with the duty. 

While the duty to prevent sexual harassment applies across all employers, it is particularly relevant to regulated sectors. In the financial services sector, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has made clear that non-financial misconduct, including bullying, harassment, and violence, is now a matter of regulatory concern. This means serious personal misconduct, such as sexual harassment, may breach regulatory rules and directly impact an individual’s fitness and propriety, irrespective of whether that misconduct occurs inside or outside of work. As such, the duty to prevent sexual harassment is both a legal and regulatory priority for employers in the financial services sector.

Regulators in other professional services sectors, including law and accountancy, have also imposed more stringent requirements on challenging and reporting unacceptable behaviours.

Why is the Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment back on the leadership agenda?

Further change to strengthen anti-harassment legislation is on the horizon under the ERB. From October 2026, the following changes are expected:

1. A Higher Standard: “All Reasonable Steps”
   The duty to prevent will shift from being a duty to take “reasonable steps” to a duty to take “all reasonable steps,”. This change in terminology further raises the bar for employers, with regulations on what amounts to “reasonable steps” expected in 2027.
2. Employer liability for Third-Party Harassment
   Importantly, employers will also be liable if a worker is harassed by a third party and the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. Third parties are wide-ranging and will cover customers, clients, visitors to site or members of the public. Whilst your risk assessment to prevent sexual harassment should already address the risk raised by third parties, third party risks should be reassessed ahead of this change coming into force. Equally, it is important to note that the protection from third party harassment extends to all protected characteristics – not just sexual harassment.
3. Expanded Whistleblower Protections
   Sexual harassment will be explicitly recognised as a qualifying disclosure under whistleblowing protections. While many such disclosures are already protected (e.g. as a breach of a legal obligation or as a health and safety risk), this clarification may lead to an increase in combined harassment and whistleblowing claims.

What should an organisational risk assessment cover?

A robust, organisation-wide risk assessment is the cornerstone of compliance. It should identify where risks exist and outline the steps needed to mitigate them. Effective prevention requires meaningful engagement with employees and a clear understanding of workplace realities. By engaging with key stakeholders across the business (including operations and IT as well as HR) about where the different risks of sexual harassment lie, employers will be much better placed to produce qualitative assessments of how likely the risk is to arise and how to mitigate against that risk. What’s more, if challenged, a business will be in a stronger position if they can demonstrate to the employment tribunal or EHRC a consistent and well-documented approach to prevention.

Each employer’s risks—and therefore their reasonable steps—will differ. Steps might include improving reporting mechanisms – such as anonymous reporting tools or external helplines, delivering targeted training (maintaining records of attendance and acknowledgments of understanding), or adapting working practices for high-risk working environments such as social events, lone working and power imbalances. For third-party risks, employers might consider including anti-harassment clauses in contracts with suppliers and partners, signage outlining behavioural expectations, and staff guidance on handling incidents. The important point is that the reasonable steps are well-thought-out and considered. The duty to prevent sexual harassment isn’t a tick-box exercise.

Ongoing compliance 

We have seen an uneven pace of adoption across sectors when it comes to putting in place risk assessments. While training and formal policies are essential, they alone are insufficient to truly prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The one-year milestone is more than a marker—it’s a call to action. 

So, whether you’re reviewing your risk assessments or starting from scratch, key actions for employers include:

• Success begins and ends with leadership. Visible support from senior figures reinforces that sexual harassment will not be tolerated.
• Engage key stakeholders beyond HR in the preparation and updating of risk assessments.
• Establish clear, accessible reporting channels and investigate complaints promptly.
• Refresh anti-harassment policies to reflect current legal duties.
• Equip managers to identify and address inappropriate behaviour.
• Deliver regular training to all staff, including leadership, and embed it into onboarding.
• Review third-party relationships and consider including anti-harassment clauses in contracts with suppliers ahead of the new legal changes.

If you’d like support with your risk assessment or the duty to prevent sexual harassment more generally, please contact Pip Galland in our Employment Team at [email protected]

Almost one year since the Worker Protection Act came into force, legally requiring UK employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work, new research* has found that over half of businesses (54%) are concerned that they haven’t done enough to comply with the legal duty.

https://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news/employment_law/almost-half-businesses-not-compliant-sexual-harassment-duty/