30 October 2026: Why it matters for equality and discrimination in the workplace

Sexual Harassment laws are tightened

Since October 2024, organisations have been under a proactive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of their workers by their colleagues. 
Two years on, and this duty is being given a serious upgrade.

From 30 October 2026, the duty is to take ALL reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment taking place. It may be the addition of one small word, but it has big implications. 

It means that if a step is reasonable, the employer must take it. The Tribunal will not just look at the big picture and decide whether, overall, the employer did enough. 

Whilst promised guidance is on its way, it won’t be until next year, so what can you do now to help keep you compliant? Our top tips include:

1.    Senior buy-in
Culture comes from the top and where leaders and managers trivialise or ignore the signs of an unhealthy environment, poor behaviour will continue. Work with your senior management team first and make sure they are aligned. 

2.    Risk assess
Where, when and how could sexual harassment occur in your business? If you cannot show you understood where the risk lies, you cannot demonstrate you have taken all reasonable steps to prevent it. 

3.    Training 
Everyone needs to know their part in this. Employees need to understand their rights and obligations towards each other, and managers need to know how to deal with issues. Practical examples about what constitutes sexual harassment and an open conversation are crucial.

4.    A safe and effective reporting process
Arguably the most important reasonable step. A safe and effective reporting process gives confidence to victims that they can speak up and stamp out wrongdoing. Likewise, knowing behaviour won’t be tolerated will make perpetrators think twice.

5.    A credible and understandable policy.
When you’re faced with a difficult situation, sifting through complex policies, or not having one at all, is an added stress. Your policy should outline the business’ culture and stance in relation to sexual harassment, the reporting process and what employees can expect in a resolution; essentially all of the above.

And if you did all this in October 2024, it doesn’t mean your work is done. The above is a baseline and what you need to do depends on the risks your organisation faces. What is ALL for one employer, is not necessarily ALL for another. 

Risk assessments need regular updates, training needs to be refreshed and systems need to be reviewed. What’s working, what isn’t, and what MORE can you do?

The difficulty? 

If you are faced with a complaint and you take remedial action, is there not an argument that you failed to take every reasonable step? The remedial action shows there was something else you could do and, if you can do it now, you’re going to have to go to some lengths to prove you couldn’t do it beforehand. That’s why careful thought is needed now.

Third Party Harassment goes live

When the Equality Act 2010 was first introduced, it provided for employers to be liable for the harassment of employees by third parties; except it was never implemented. 

Fast forward 16 years and, from 30 October 2026, that situation changes. 

Employers will find themselves responsible where employees are harassed by customers, clients, members of the public, suppliers and so on. In essence, anyone with whom they come into contact, in the course of their employment. The employer’s only defence will be that they, once again, took ALL reasonable steps to prevent it. 

It feels like this new obligation has slipped under the radar, amongst all the headline grabbers about unfair dismissal. 

When it comes to preventing harassment by third parties, it is worth noting that this doesn’t just mean sexual harassment. It means harassment relating to any one of the seven protected characteristics to which harassment under the Equality Act applies: sex, age, disability, race, religion and philosophical belief, sexual orientation, and gender reassignment. 

The points made about senior buy-in, risk assessment and safe and effective reporting processes above, are all true for third party harassment as well. 

But the practical implication for an employer is that preventing people over whom they potentially have no control from harassing their staff is much more difficult.

The Tribunals will hopefully be prepared to accept that the ALL reasonable steps defence is less onerous here than for sexual harassment by the business’ own employees. But steps are still needed, nonetheless, and may, for example, include:-

1.    Posters and signs at the point of interaction, outlining that harassment is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. We’ve lots of these popping up in businesses and strangely they often pick out one or two protected characteristics. Think carefully about the wording you use: it matters. 

2.    Website notices, especially on contact forms or ‘contact us’ sections. Where you are inviting someone to contact you, it would be wise to set out the expectation, especially if you are inviting feedback or criticism.

3.    Updated terms and conditions of business. This is a great way to try and bind third parties and outline contractual redress mechanisms. Could you include an obligation to reasonably cooperate with investigations? Could you set out termination provisions in the event of third party harassment occurring? How about a requirement for the contractor to confirm that they have put in place appropriate measures for their own staff’s protection from harassment?

4.    Safety measures such as panic alarms, CCTV, sign in systems, security locks on doors. Whether these are necessary depends on the identified risks but a small investment might well save a significant claim later down the line. 

Not all measures will be appropriate or reasonable for all employers to take, and risk assessments must be undertaken for your specific workforce. Different risk assessments may be necessary for different parts of your business. 

If you need support in ensuring your business is taking the right steps towards compliance, please get in touch with one of our team - Employment Law Team. If you are facing an allegation of discrimination or harassment of any kind, we can also help with putting things right.