The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the biggest shake-up of workplace law in decades. Changes in relation to sexual harassment come into force in April 2026 and October 2026, as follows:
April 2026
Sexual Harassment Whistleblowing
From 6 April 2026, workers who disclose sexual harassment will be entitled to whistleblower protection. This means that workers who report sexual harassment will benefit from protection against detriment and dismissal.
The change makes it clear that non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality clauses cannot prevent someone from blowing the whistle about sexual harassment.
It is hoped that this change will lead to greater awareness and encourage more workers to raise concerns early and call out employers who have failed to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
Action Points:
- Train managers so they can spot a potential whistleblowing complaint and respond appropriately.
- Update Whistleblowing Policies to include Sexual Harassment as one of the concerns staff are encouraged to report.
October 2026
Third Party Harassment
This change sees the reintroduction of protection from third-party harassment from October 2026. This will significantly affect public-facing businesses such as hospitality or retail and will affect all employers to some extent. This means that if a third party such as a customer, client, contractor, supplier or visitor harasses a member of staff, the employer can be held liable for that harassment, even though they don’t employ the harasser.
The employer will have a defence if it can show that it took all reasonable steps to prevent the incident.
Action Points:
- Undertake a risk assessment and put safety measures in place, such as avoiding lone working in high-risk situations, and installing CCTV in public areas.
- Set clear expectations with third parties, such as signs, handouts and recording telephone messages communicating that harassment of staff will not be tolerated and may result in withdrawal of services.
- Address the issue in contractor relationships setting out clear expectations and consequences of any breaches.
- Update anti-harassment policies and training to cover third-party harassment and encourage employees to report incidents.
- Take allegations seriously, investigate complaints and take appropriate action against perpetrators.
- Support affected employees.
All reasonable steps – Sexual Harassment
Employers have a duty to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent all forms of harassment. In October 2024, a new preventative duty was introduced which provides that if employers fail to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment, the tribunal can increase the claimant’s compensation by up to 25%.
In October 2026, the law is tightening so that employers will be required to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment to avoid the 25% uplift. Regulations specifying what counts as ‘all reasonable steps’ are expected in 2027.
Action Points:
- Assess the risk of harassment in the workplace.
- Update anti-harassment policies which are effective, well communicated and easy to find.
- Train staff and managers, and provide regular refreshers.
- Actively identify issues through methods such as anonymous staff surveys.
- Regularly monitor and review policies and risk assessments.
For further guidance and support, please contact our team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and we will be in touch.