The duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of workers (the preventative duty) has been in force since 26 October 2024. As such, employers should already have considered and adapted their processes to take account of this legislation.

However, with further changes on the horizon (particularly reforms to harassment under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025)), now is a good moment for employers to revisit the current duty, assess whether their approach remains fit for purpose, and prepare for what is changing next.

The preventative duty

To recap, the preventative duty requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers in the course of their employment. It is an anticipatory obligation, which means that employers should anticipate the risks of sexual harassment happening in their workplace and take reasonable steps to avoid them, rather than waiting for an incident of sexual harassment to occur and then taking reactive steps.

While an employee cannot bring a standalone claim for breach of the preventative duty, if an employee is successful in a claim for harassment (which involved, to any extent, sexual harassment), an employment tribunal can increase compensation by up to 25% if it finds the employer failed to comply with the preventative duty. In addition, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has the power to take enforcement action against employers suspected of breaching the preventative...

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