Upcoming Changes to UK Sexual Harassment Law: What U.S. Employers Need to Know

Since October 2024, employers have had a legal duty to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees in the workplace. This means employers are expected to identify and take “reasonable steps” to minimise the risk of sexual harassment. In deciding whether a step is “reasonable”, a number of factors may be relevant, including the employer’s size and resources, the sector it operates in and the nature of the working environment.

From October 2026, further reform is taking place. The changes focus on strengthening employer obligations in preventing and tackling sexual harassment.

Two changes are particularly important:

1. Employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment

The current requirement is to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees during the course of their employment. From October 2026, employers will be expected to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent it.

The government will have the power to specify in regulations what is to be regarded as “reasonable” for the purposes of meeting the obligation to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment.

In practice, this may mean employers showing that they have taken the steps set out in the regulations, as well as any other reasonable preventative steps to reduce the risk of sexual harassment that are appropriate for the business.

Whilst the change to “all reasonable steps” is anticipated to come into force in October 2026, the regulations themselves are expected to come into force in 2027/2028 following a period of consultation.

2. Employer liability for harassment (including sexual harassment) by third parties

The changes will also introduce liability for harassment (including sexual harassment) committed by third parties. This means an employer could be liable if an employee is sexually harassed by the employer’s customers, clients or contractors or another third party and the employer failed to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent the third party from harassing the employee in the course of their employment.

In practice, employers should be taking the same approach as outlined above: if an employee is harassed by someone outside the business, the employer will need to show what steps it took in advance to prevent the harassment from taking place.

This reform is also expected to come into force in October 2026.

A clear shift in focus

These changes show an increasing trend towards prevention. Updating policies, the provision of training and other steps towards compliance should be taken.

For U.S. employers, the shift in focus towards prevention and preventative measures can easily be missed. For example, U.S. handbooks may not deal with these topics, the UK policy may not have been updated and/or the training provided to employees may focus only on colleague-to-colleague behaviour.

What should you be doing now to prepare?

The first step is to check the extent to which your organisation is already compliant in this area and answering the question “what is already in place?”

For the shift from “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees during the course of their employment, you might focus on collating any relevant policies, reporting routes, risk assessments, training and attendance, actions taken in response to concerns and reviews of the effectiveness of any preventative measures.

When thinking about taking third-party preventative steps, you might also check there are appropriate clauses in supplier contracts and whether it displays appropriate public notices stating that harassment of its staff will not be tolerated.

Once you understand the extent to which your organisation is compliant, you can take any corrective measures, ideally before October 2026.

If your organisation is taking its first step towards compliance in this area, then the best first step is to undertake a risk assessment. The outcome of the risk assessment will help frame the steps required for compliance.

If you have any questions relating to the contents of this blog, what corrective measures might be best for your organisation or how to approach a risk assessment, please reach out to your Vedder contact and watch for more updates on the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025.