United Kingdom · employment

What Counts as All Reasonable Steps to Prevent Sexual Harassment in the UK?

Under United Kingdom employment law, employers cannot simply look the other way or rely on outdated policies when sexual harassment occurs. Recent legal reforms place a strict, positive duty on employers to take active, preventative measures—and if they fail to do so, they face severe legal consequences.

The Legal Framework: What the Law Demands in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, workplace protection from sexual harassment is governed by the Equality Act 2010, which was significantly strengthened by the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 (in force from October 2024) and subsequently the Employment Rights Act 2025. Under this legislative framework, employers are no longer permitted to be purely reactive. From 30 October 2026, the law levels up: employers have a strict, positive duty to take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent sexual harassment from occurring in the course of employment.

Crucially, this duty is anticipatory. An employer cannot wait until an incident occurs to draft a policy or hold a meeting. Furthermore, under the Employment Rights Act 2025, this standard extends to preventing harassment by third parties, such as clients, customers, patients, or contractors. If your employer has failed to establish proactive, multi-layered preventative measures, they have breached their statutory duty, exposing them to regulatory enforcement by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and a potential 25% uplift on any tribunal compensation awarded to you.

What 'All Reasonable Steps' Actually Means: Moving Beyond Tick-Box HR

Many employers try to dodge liability by pointing to a generic, dusty anti-harassment policy buried deep in an employee handbook, or a single 'tick-box' slide deck shown during your onboarding three years ago. Under UK law, this is legally insufficient. In the landmark case of Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen [2021] UKEAT/0057/20, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) firmly rejected an employer's 'reasonable steps' defence. The EAT ruled that because the employer's equality and diversity training had become 'stale' and managers did not actively report known harassment, the employer had failed to meet the high statutory bar.

To satisfy the 'all reasonable steps' standard, an employer's preventative measures must be dynamic, ongoing, and tailored to their specific business. According to the EHRC technical guidance, this requires a continuous cycle: executing custom risk assessments that evaluate specific vulnerabilities (such as power imbalances, late-night shifts, or customer-facing environments), providing regular and refreshed interactive training, establishing clear and confidential reporting channels (including anonymous options), and fostering an active, trauma-informed response to complaints. If any of these links in the chain are missing, they have not taken 'all reasonable steps'.

Your Rights and How to Hold Them Accountable

If you have experienced sexual harassment in a UK workplace, the law is designed to protect you, not the employer's reputation. From April 2026, reporting sexual harassment is also legally classified as a 'protected disclosure' (whistleblowing) under UK law, giving you automatic statutory protection against any form of detriment, victimization, or unfair dismissal for speaking out. Furthermore, any non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) used by an employer to silence you or restrict your ability to discuss harassment are legally unenforceable.

Do not let HR convince you that 'nothing can be done' about a difficult client or a senior manager's 'banter'. You have the right to demand a safe, harassment-free working environment. If you are preparing to hold your employer accountable, you can use Caunsel to research your rights under the Equality Act 2010, systematically organize and save critical documents in a secure digital case, or connect directly with an independent, qualified employment lawyer who can represent you in an Employment Tribunal.

Steps

• Keep a detailed, contemporaneous diary of every incident, noting the date, time, location, exactly what was said or done, and any witnesses.
• Request copies of your company’s current anti-harassment policy, staff handbook, and records of any training provided to your team, checking when it was last updated or refreshed.
• Report the harassment in writing using your employer's official reporting procedure (or via a whistleblowing channel) to establish a clear paper trail.
• Preserve all physical evidence, including screenshots of inappropriate messages, emails, or call logs on personal and work devices.
• Submit a formal grievance if the initial report is ignored, citing your employer's duty to take all reasonable steps to protect you.

Common mistakes

• Relying solely on verbal complaints to HR or managers without following up in writing, which allows employers to claim they were unaware of the issue.
• Accepting 'stale' or outdated training as a valid excuse from HR when they claim they 'did everything they could' to prevent the perpetrator's behavior.
• Signing a settlement agreement or non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before seeking independent legal advice on your tribunal rights.

Questions people ask

Can my employer be held liable if the harassment came from a customer or client?

Yes. Under the UK's Employment Rights Act 2025, employers can be held directly liable for harassment committed by third parties (such as clients, customers, or contractors) if they fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.

What happens if my employer fails to take 'all reasonable steps'?

If you successfully bring a sexual harassment claim in an Employment Tribunal and show your employer failed in their preventative duty, the tribunal can increase your compensation award by up to 25%. Additionally, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has the power to launch formal investigations and take enforcement action against the company.

My company has an anti-harassment policy, so haven't they met the legal standard?

No. Simply having a policy on paper is not enough. Under the ruling in Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen, a policy that is not actively promoted, reviewed, or backed by regular and effective training is considered 'stale.' To meet the 'all reasonable steps' standard, the employer must actively manage risks and enforce their policy in practice.

General information only, last updated 2026-10-04. Caunsel is not a law firm and does not practise law. AI answers and this guide are not legal advice. Verify filings, deadlines, and statutes with a licensed lawyer in United Kingdom.