Harassment under the Equality Act: an Update.

As we reported at the time, the Equality Act 2010 was amended in October 2024 to introduce a duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. With effect from 30 October 2026, that duty is extended to a requirement to take all reasonable steps.

Where an employment tribunal upholds a sexual harassment claim and finds the preventative duty was breached, compensation may be uplifted by up to 25%. The uplift is not new - it already applied to breaches of the pre-existing duty - but the bar has been raised as regards the standard against which a breach is measured.

At the same time, the Equality Act has been amended so that employers are liable for third-party harassment of their employees relating to any protected characteristics (so age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation) unless they can show that they took all reasonable steps to prevent that harassment.

A "third party" means a person other than the employer or one of its employees, and may include customers, clients, suppliers, visitors and members of the public.

"Employee" has a broad meaning in this context, and includes not only individuals working under a contract of employment, but job applicants and those providing personal services as a worker (including agency workers) or a contractor.

"In the course of employment" has a wide meaning and includes acts committed in the workplace or in any other place where the employee is working, whether that is the employer’s premises, the employee’s home, an offsite location, or when attending a training course, conference or external meeting. It also includes other circumstances in which the employee is not actually working but that are connected with work. Whether or not acts committed outside of work are committed in the course of employment will depend on the strength of the connection with work in each particular case.

A power has been introduced for the Secretary of State to make regulations specifying evidence-based steps that will be regarded as ‘reasonable’ when determining whether an employer has taken, or failed to take, all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, but the Government has stated that such regulations will not be made until 2027 or 2028, following consultation.

In the meantime, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has updated its technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment in the workplace to support employers with the preventative duty. It has also produced an 8-step guide to preventing sexual harassment at work and it is to update (but as at the date this blog was published, it has yet to update) a related Checklist and Action Plan.

These resources focus on areas such as:

• robust risk assessment
• clear policies and procedures
• staff engagement and communication
• multiple reporting mechanisms
• effective training and awareness
• monitoring and evaluation
• tackling third-party harassment

If you are an employer who requires an up-to-date anti-harassment policy or risk assessment documents or otherwise requires advice relating to its preventative duties or a complaint of harassment, please contact a member of our team.