Preventing sexual harassment — how to comply with the Worker Protection Act

Published on 15 August 2024 and updated on 25 June 2025.

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force on 26 October 2024 and imposes a duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the course of their employment.

Here, Kate Venables, Matt Lavelle and Allana Edwards outline what employers need to know to comply with this legislation. 

What is the mandatory duty to protect workers from sexual harassment?

From 26 October, employers will be required to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent the sexual harassment of employees during the course of their employment.  

It’s considered that the existing protections in the Equality Act 2010 fail to go far enough, with the ‘#MeToo’ movement having exposed the extent to which there has been a failure to prevent sexual harassment globally. 

The new duty applies to all employers regardless of their size or sector and imposes a legal duty on employers to work preventatively (not retrospectively) to address sexual harassment in the workplace.

This will require positive action from employers and must not be seen as a box-ticking exercise. Employers will need to be able to evidence the ‘reasonable steps’ taken to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

Reasonable steps

While the ‘reasonable steps’ aren’t defined, they’re likely to include things like:

• Having a clear policy that specifically tackles sexual harassment.
• Mandatory sexual harassment training for all staff.
• Additional training for managers on how to handle a sexual harassment complaint.
• A zero-tolerance culture in relation to sexual harassment.
• Encouraging the reporting of sexual harassment by providing different methods of doing so, with a clear process and support available to those who raise complaints.
• Regular staff surveys to identify the extent of any problems or risks, both internally and in relation to any third parties that employees come into contact with.
• Measures to help minimise the risk of sexual harassment by third parties.
• Monitoring the progress of all complaints.
• Workplace ‘champions’ to promote the company’s policies and stance against sexual harassment.

What’s ‘reasonable’ in each case depends on a number of factors. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) technical guidance sets out a non-exhaustive list of some of the factors that may be relevant. Some of those include (but are not limited to) the size and resources of the employer, the nature of the working environment, the sector the employer operates in and the risks present in that workplace. The EHRC guidance also makes it clear that “a step may be reasonable, even if it would not have prevented a particular act of sexual harassment”. More guidance on what may amount to a reasonable step can be found in the EHRC technical guidance and its Employer 8-step guide: Preventing sexual harassment at work.

What happens if employers don’t comply?

While a breach of the duty does not give rise to a standalone claim, Employment Tribunals have the power to increase any discrimination compensation awarded by up to 25% where an employee’s claim for sexual harassment has been upheld and the Tribunal finds that the employer has not complied with the duty. The EHRC can also take enforcement action against the employer. 

Compensation can cover various heads of loss, including injury to feelings, financial loss, aggravated damages and (in some cases) personal injury. It’s also important to note that there’s no statutory cap on the amount of compensation that can be awarded for sexual harassment claims. This means that in severe cases, awards can be substantial — particularly if a claimant can prove significant financial loss or severe injury to feelings. 

Furthermore, failure to investigate a complaint properly could potentially constitute a breach of the implied duty of trust and confidence, entitling the employee to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal. Employers may be vicariously liable for the harassing actions of their employees if they can’t demonstrate that they took reasonable steps to prevent such sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment in the workplace can also lead to the loss of valuable employees, have a negative impact on staff morale, discourage new talent from joining and result in significant reputational damage for employers through legal action and negative media attention. 

The impact of the Employment Rights Bill

The Government has committed to extending the protections in this area further. The Employment Rights Bill (the Bill) contains its proposals for how this will be achieved. Employers will be required to take ‘all’ reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the course of employment. In addition, the Bill will re-introduce liability on employers for the harassment of its employees by third parties such as clients, contractors, suppliers and the public. 

The Bill will introduce the ability for legislation (in the form of regulations) to set out what amounts to reasonable steps for the purposes of the duty to prevent sexual harassment. The Bill will also update the definition of a protected disclosure (in the context of whistleblowing) to include where an employee discloses “that sexual harassment, has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur.”

Talk to us

Our employment law team offer a range of cost-effective support packages to enable employers to prepare for the forthcoming changes. These include the preparation of compliant sexual harassment policies and training materials for managers and staff.

If you need advice, call us on 0333 004 4488, email us at hello@brabners.com or complete our contact form below.