Sexual and Third Party Harassment

Employers will be required to take ALL reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and harassment by third parties

Sexual Harassment

Employers will be required to take ALL reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. The addition of the word ‘ALL’ extends the duty from taking reasonable steps to taking all reasonable steps.

Third Party Harassment

This wasn’t in the pre-election manifesto. Third party harassment was originally in the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act) Act 2023 that will come into effect on 26 October 2024. Under that regime employers would be liable for harassment of workers by 3rd parties and covered all types of harassment under the Equality Act but it was removed.

The Employment Rights Bill will introduce a new section to the Equality Act which will extend the liability so that employers will be liable for any third party harassment occurring during employment.

Third party harassment is not limited to sexual harassment and applies to all forms of harassment.

The Employment Rights Bill Delivery Roadmap indicates that the new provisions making employers liable for third-party harassment – unless they have taken all reasonably practicable steps – will not come into force until October 2026. This is later than expected, particularly given that no further substantive regulations are required to implement the change. Similarly, the enhancement of the duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment – from taking “reasonable steps” to taking “all reasonable steps” – is scheduled for October 2026. However, employers will have to wait until 2027 for the accompanying regulations that will define what constitutes “reasonable steps”. This approach feels misaligned – employers will face liability before they have this further detail.

Employee Handbook Compliance Package

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