As an employer, you must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment happening in your organisation.
What the law says
By law, all employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers.
On 30 October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthened the law so that employers have to take 'all reasonable steps'. Before, employers only had to take 'reasonable steps'.
The laws cover sexual harassment from:
- other people at work
- third parties – for example customers and clients
If you do not take reasonable steps, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) could take action against you. You might also have to pay a higher rate of compensation if a worker makes a successful claim at an employment tribunal.
What 'all reasonable steps' means
Before 30 October 2026, employers might have chosen to take some reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. They will now be expected to take them all with no exceptions.
The steps you take will likely depend on your organisation. For example:
- its size
- the sector
- the kind of work your workers do
Taking all reasonable steps means:
- taking all of the steps that are reasonable for your organisation rather than just some of the steps
- focusing on preventing sexual harassment rather than only reacting to incidents
- some steps will apply across the whole organisation, not just actions targeted at people involved in a previous incident
All reasonable steps includes protecting workers from online and in-person sexual harassment.
You might already do everything you reasonably can to prevent sexual harassment. If so, you may already meet the new requirements.
It is likely that larger or more complex organisations will need to take more steps to prevent sexual harassment.
What you should do
To help you take appropriate action, you should:
- consider the risks of sexual harassment happening in your organisation
- consider steps you could take to reduce the risks of sexual harassment happening
- consider which of those steps are reasonable for you to take
- take those steps
What is reasonable depends on the situation. There's no set list of steps that all employers must take.
Considering risks
Sexual harassment can happen in any organisation. You must not assume that it will not happen.
You should assess any possible risks in your organisation.
In your risk assessment, consider any factors specific to:
- your sector
- the type of work
- ways of working
- different roles in your organisation
Higher risk factors might include things like:
- meeting clients or service users alone
- an environment where people are drinking alcohol
- work-related social events
- power imbalances between workers
- travelling for work, including overnight stays
You should also be aware that some people might be at higher risk. For example:
- younger workers, including apprentices and interns
- people with learning difficulties
Considering steps to take
To decide what steps are reasonable for your organisation, you should consider things like:
- the size of your organisation
- the kind of work your workers do
- what risks of sexual harassment there might be in your working environment
- who your workers might have contact with as part of their work
- how often your workers are in contact with third parties
- whether sexual harassment has happened before
- your organisation's resources
- whether you need to challenge attitudes at work
When you're considering third parties your workers are in contact with, consider people like:
- customers
- clients
- service users
- members of the public
- self-employed consultants
- people at conferences or events
Example of not taking all reasonable steps
Jo started a job 10 months ago. The environment feels intimidating, with a culture of 'banter' that makes Jo uncomfortable. Jo is performing well but finds the environment difficult.
One of the co-owners of the organisation begins making frequent comments about Jo's appearance. When Jo tells their supervisor, the supervisor offers to change Jo's duties. However, the supervisor tells Jo they will need to 'toughen up'.
Later, the co-owner tries to force Jo into a supply cupboard. Other people step in to stop it. Jo makes a formal complaint about the co-owner.
The organisation's sexual harassment policy has not been reviewed or used for years. The other owner takes over the organisation completely. They provide harassment training for the area Jo works in.
However, they do not take further action to address the culture of banter across the organisation. After the training, it does not feel like anything has changed. Jo feels they have no choice but to resign and take legal action.
It is very unlikely the employer took all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
Example of taking all reasonable steps
Kim starts a new job and completes their induction. As part of the induction, Kim's manager:
- shares the organisation's sexual harassment policy, which includes doing regular risk assessments
- ensures Kim signs up for mandatory sexual harassment training
- tells Kim the organisation will not tolerate sexual harassment
- makes sure Kim knows how to recognise and report sexual harassment
Kim's manager also explains that some workers have taken additional training to help handle any complaints.
These people include:
- senior leaders in the organisation
- team leaders
- managers
- fair treatment contacts
- HR staff
- trade union representatives
Kim now knows how to report any concerns. They feel reassured that the organisation is taking sexual harassment seriously.
The employer is likely to be able to show they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
Examples of steps to prevent sexual harassment
The steps you could take include:
- reviewing ways of reporting sexual harassment
- taking steps to create the right culture
- having the right policies and procedures
- informing and training workers
- carrying out risk assessments and regularly reviewing them
- monitoring data from reports about sexual harassment in your organisation, if you have them
Encourage workers to report sexual harassment
It is your responsibility to encourage workers to report sexual harassment.
You can do this by providing clear ways for workers to report:
- any incidents of sexual harassment
- situations where they felt at risk, even if nothing happened
Some organisations hold awareness events to educate workers on how to speak up.
You should make sure workers have more than one way to report sexual harassment. For example, they should be able to report it to someone other than their manager.
It can be a good idea to introduce ways for some workers to get help quickly. For example, using panic buttons or alarms for workers who are alone with customers.
You should regularly review the ways workers can report sexual harassment and update them if needed.
Create the right culture
You should make these things clear to everyone who works for you:
- sexual harassment is against the law
- what sexual harassment is and what behaviours are unacceptable at work
- you will never cover up or ignore a sexual harassment complaint
- you will not tolerate misuse of power in workplace relationships, for example through seniority or influence
- how you will handle a sexual harassment complaint
- that workers are encouraged to report sexual harassment
- if someone who works for you carries out sexual harassment, it may lead to them losing their job
- no-one will be disadvantaged or face disciplinary action for making a complaint, unless they make it maliciously
There are other steps you can take to help create the right culture. For example:
- having a clear way for workers to report sexual harassment, including anonymously
- carrying out anonymous surveys to understand people's experiences of sexual harassment at work
- including in managers' performance objectives that they should report sexual harassment if they see it, or deal with it if they're trained to
- keeping a record of sexual harassment complaints to watch for any patterns of unwanted behaviour
- holding awareness events to educate workers on reporting sexual harassment – for example 'speak up' weeks
- improving equality, diversity and inclusion – sexual harassment is less likely to happen in an inclusive organisation where everyone is treated with respect
- setting standards of behaviour for work social events
- having someone at senior level to make sure the organisation is taking steps to prevent sexual harassment
Have the right policies and procedures
You must follow a full and fair procedure for handling complaints, in line with the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.
This could be through:
- a grievance procedure
- a specific procedure for handling sexual harassment complaints – this could be part of a sexual harassment policy
Find out more about creating a sexual harassment policy
Inform and train workers
This includes:
- telling everyone that sexual harassment is not acceptable – for example as part of their induction
- training everyone who works for you on recognising and understanding sexual harassment
- training managers on how to assess and manage risks of sexual harassment
- training someone to advise people who are considering making a sexual harassment complaint – you could train someone in HR, a manager or another worker
- training senior leaders on how to prevent sexual harassment, and how to encourage workers to report it
- regularly reviewing training to make sure it's up to date and effective
Acas training for employers and managers includes:
Get more advice and support
Find out more about preventing sexual harassment from the Equality and Human Rights Commission
If you need help with taking steps to prevent sexual harassment, you can: