UK employers are tackling workplace harassment, but monitoring and training gaps remain

These were the findings from a recent survey conducted by law firm Pinsent Masons as organisations prepare to comply with increased obligations on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and the risk of third-party harassment claims.

The extended proactive duty to prevent sexual harassment, which takes effect from 1 October 2026, will oblige employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This goes much further than the current obligations for employers to take just “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment, which have been in place since October 2024.

From 1 October, employers will also be liable for third party harassment if they fail to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent it. This applies across all nine protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. There is no proactive duty to prevent third party harassment, except for sexual harassment. However, the assessment of whether liability arises because of a failure to take “all reasonable steps” may mean the practical impact is similar to a positive duty to prevent.

Almost three-quarters of employers surveyed during Pinsent Masons’ recent annual equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) conference in London said they were taking “all reasonable steps” to prevent workplace sexual harassment. However, less than a quarter reported having internal systems already in place to monitor how effective training and other preventative measures were in protecting employees from potential sexual harassment.

The survey canvassed the views of general counsel, HR and compliance managers, diversity, equality and inclusion leads, senior managers and employee relations specialists across businesses operating in the retail, sport and hospitality, energy, financial services, professional and public services, infrastructure and real estate sectors.

Encouragingly, 64% of survey respondents said they had carried out a risk assessment to identify particular risk factors in their organisations and then identified potential mitigating measures to tackle these risks. Almost 40% of respondents reported that third parties, particularly co-contractors or workers from other organisations, posed the biggest “potential risk” to their business.

The proactive duty to prevent sexual harassment introduced in October 2024 was hailed as transformative for workplace culture. However, Susannah Donaldson, an expert in equality law with Pinsent Masons, said the incoming obligations would significantly raise the bar for employers to proactively prevent workplace harassment. “The law is setting a much higher bar in terms of what employers are expected to do, including the duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, as well as new provisions to prevent third party harassment across all protected characteristics,” she said.

Donaldson suggested that conducting a risk assessment is the essential first step for employers preparing for the new legislative provisions. “Without identifying where harassment-related risk areas lie, it will be difficult to persuade an employment tribunal that all reasonable steps have been taken to prevent harassment in the workplace,” she said. “Risk assessments should be live documents which are kept under review to enable employers to proactively evidence that they have identified, and implemented, targeted measures to tackle the underlying risks. This should not be a ‘one and done’ style exercise.”

In particular, she said the new third-party harassment provisions would involve employers extending their existing risk assessments to cover risks of third party harassment relating to all protected characteristics, as well as sexual harassment. They should include in their thinking when and where these risks could occur, the sector-specific risks, online risks, lone working and situations involving potential power imbalances, together with any steps that can reasonably be taken to mitigate those risks. “Employers need to set behavioural standards, ensure policies address third-party harassment risks, establish reciprocal expectations and contractual safeguards with clients, suppliers and other third parties, as well as empower employees and managers to be active bystanders,” she said.

Three-quarters of survey respondents said they had successfully delivered workplace-wide training on sexual harassment, including how employees should report it and how they should respond to concerns. However, 66% reported this training was provided by e-learning, with only a third of participants providing additional learning via small group discussion sessions that provided the opportunity for employers to ask questions and seek further clarification.

Trish Embley, a client training specialist at Pinsent Masons, said compliance-based e-learning did not provide adequate opportunities for employees to speak up and raise concerns on such sensitive issues.

“Given the nuance and grey areas of this topic, e-learning alone is insufficient training,” she said. “Small group discussions are needed to keep the conversation alive. Employee engagement is the most overlooked step. What lies at the heart of this duty is finding out from employees themselves what they are experiencing, whether they feel comfortable speaking up, and addressing the heart of the problem. Known secrets within organisations, and certain geographical hotspots or departmental risks need to be identified and factored into risk assessments.”

As well as establishing a top-down approach from senior management to tackle workplace culture, Embley said employers should also organise specific training for line managers on how to manage these issues effectively. “Managers act as the organisation’s frontline observers and are typically best positioned to identify concerns and take early, proactive action,” she added.