Sexual Harassment In The Workplace – Are You Taking Reasonable Steps To Protect Your Organisation?

Awareness of sexual harassment, its impacts and effects has grown rapidly in recent years, with the #MeToo movement acting as a significant catalyst. Many individuals experience sexual harassment, and being sexually harassed at work takes many and varying forms. Employers in the UK, Germany and France have legal obligations to take measures to prevent workplace sexual harassment.

Given the legal, reputational and cultural issues created by allegations of sexual harassment within an organisation and the variety of ways in which sexual harassment can take place in the modern world (including via social media), it is more important than ever for employers operating in the UK, Germany and/or France to think about the steps you currently have in place and what else you might be doing to ensure you have robust measures to prevent incidents of sexual harassment.

Our online health check tool is designed to help organisations with operations in the UK, Germany and/or France stress test the measures you currently have in place and identify any area(s) that may need attention.

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What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment takes many forms and encompasses a broad spectrum of behaviour from verbal conduct such as suggestive remarks, sexual comments, jokes, propositions or requests for sexual favours, to non-verbal conduct including displaying sexually explicit material or a sexual gesture. Physical conduct, such as unwelcome touching, can also amount to sexual harassment.

What legal obligations do UK employers have to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace?

On 26 October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force. The Act introduced a positive legal obligation on employers to take "reasonable steps" to prevent the sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment.

The preventative duty requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, one component of which is to include measures addressing risks posed by third parties (for example, customers, clients and members of the public).

This is a positive, anticipatory duty. Employers cannot simply wait for a complaint to be made before acting. You must be proactive and take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment before it occurs, and ensure employees know how to report sexual harassment.

What is the risk for UK employers who do not have prevention measures in place?

Failing to take reasonable steps to prevent workplace sexual harassment can have serious consequences. If an employee succeeds in a sexual harassment claim in the Employment Tribunal and the employer is found to have breached the preventative duty, compensation awards can be increased by up to 25%.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) can take enforcement action against employers who breach the duty, even without a specific complaint or incident having occurred.

In addition to the legal and financial risks, there are also significant reputational and cultural risks for employers who do not take proactive measures to prevent workplace sexual harassment.

What are "reasonable steps"?

What is "reasonable" will depend on the individual employer and include factors such as its size, resources, the nature of its working environment, the level of contact employees have with third parties and what measures are already in place.

Essentially, the more reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment an employer can demonstrate it is taking, the better its position.

What should UK employers be doing?

The EHRC has published technical guidance to help employers understand their positive legal obligations in relation to the preventative duty, the steps they must take to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and what they should do if harassment occurs.

Key actions include:

• A risk assessment: this involves considering what risks exist in the workplace (for example, lone working, customer facing roles, or work social events) and what measures can be put in place to mitigate those risks. The EHRC makes clear that employers are unlikely to meet this duty if they have not carried out a risk assessment. A clear anti-harassment policy: a policy covering all forms of harassment, including by third parties, which is clearly communicated and consistently enforced across the organisation.
• Regular training: provided to all employees, with additional tailored sessions for managers on handling complaints. Case law emphasises that training should be refreshed regularly rather than treated as a one-off exercise.
• Clear reporting channels: employers should ensure that employees know how to raise concerns and that there is more than one way to report sexual harassment or raise formal complaints.
• Monitor and review: this can be done through staff surveys, complaints data and keeping records of exit interviews to track how things are working and where improvements are needed.

More changes to the UK legal duty

The law in this area is continuing to evolve with a view to strengthening protections.

From 1 October 2026, the existing preventative duty will be strengthened so that employers must take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment. An obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties will also be introduced – this obligation will cover all forms of harassment and not just sexual harassment.

In addition, future regulations will set out a non-exhaustive list of obligations that are to be regarded as "reasonable" for the purpose of determining whether an employer has taken, or failed to take, all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of an employee. Employers should ensure they take these steps, along with any additional ones identified as appropriate for their organisation. The Government has stated that it will consult before introducing these "required step" regulations. They are expected sometime in 2027/28.

More changes restricting the enforcement of non-disclosure agreements for misconduct in the workplace, including harassment or discrimination are also expected in 2027. This will only increase the importance of organisations assessing and planning to prevent sexual harassment.

The sexual harassment prevention changes are just one of a number that have been, and will continue to be, introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025. Our online tracker provides up-to-date information on what is changing and when.

Read the original article on GowlingWLG.com