The time has come to end sexual harassment – Is your workplace ready?

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People have a right to feel safe and secure when they are at work.

In order to better achieve this, the Employment Rights Act is tightening the obligations of employers to protect the well-being of their team.

As guidance changes, it is vital to know what you must do to stay compliant.

What are the new obligations to tackle sexual harassment?

From 6 April 2026, sexual harassment will become a qualifying disclosure under whistleblowing law.

Like with other forms of qualifying disclosure, it will not be legal to disadvantage or fire an employee due to their raising concerns about sexual harassment.

Keep in mind that the whistleblowing protection extends to all who may be impacted by the event and not just the person who is being victimised.

You should treat the disclosure of sexual harassment with sensitivity and care to ensure that employees continue to feel empowered to speak out in the future.

This will pave the way for the next round of reforms that are taking effect in October 2026.

At this point, all reasonable steps must be implemented to protect workers from sexual harassment in the workplace and from third parties that a person interacts with in the course of their working day.

How can businesses prepare for the changes to sexual harassment policies?

The changes to the whistleblowing procedures should not take much to adapt to.

Ideally, you will already have a robust whistleblowing policy in place so all that will need to be done is an explicit mention of sexual harassment as a qualifying disclosure.

Staff should be trained with the updated information to better support those who may need to make a disclosure.

The greater challenge may come in the form of taking all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

This is especially true when employees have to engage with third-parties as if sexual harassment does occur, it will be on the employer to show that it was unforeseen.

It may be wise to review the way in which staff interact with third parties to provide better safety in these potentially volatile circumstances.

Ensuring that employees deal with clients and customers in pairs may be an effective way to reduce the likelihood of sexual harassment occurring and provide support and a witness if it does occur.

However, you should also take into consideration the reputation of clients and customers where possible.

If you are aware of accusations of improper behaviour in the past, it may be necessary to decline working alongside individuals or businesses if this poses a risk to your own team.

If sexual harassment occurs and the offender is found to have had a public reputation of engaging in such behaviour previously, it will be your company that will need to justify the decision to continue working.

We can provide you HR support to ensure that your team are looked after and your company stays compliant with the ongoing changes brought about by the Employment Rights Act.

Speak to our HR team today to learn more about protecting your team from sexual harassment.