Sexual harassment prevention rules are changing in October 2026

Support from an HR consultant in Ipswich to make sure your business meets the new "all reasonable steps" standard before October 2026.

The law around sexual harassment prevention in the workplace has shifted twice in recent years.

Another change lands in October 2026, and it raises the bar again.

If you've been relying on a policy document tucked away in a shared drive, that won't be enough anymore.

As an HR consultant, I'm already working with business owners who had no idea this was coming.

Here's what's changed and what you need to do about it.

What's actually shifting in October 2026

The legal duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment has been tightening over the past few years. Before 2023, the Equality Act 2010 gave employers a reasonable defence as long as they could point to a policy. In 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 raised that bar by requiring employers to take "reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment.

From October 2026, the standard moves up again. You'll need to show you took all reasonable steps.

That single word makes a real difference. It means a tribunal won't just ask whether you did something. They'll ask whether you did everything you reasonably could have done.

And there's a second part to this that catches a lot of business owners off guard. The changes also cover third-party harassment. If someone outside your organisation, like a client, a customer, or a contractor, harasses one of your team members, you could be held liable if you can't demonstrate that you took steps to prevent it.

Consider anyone in your business who deals with the public, works on client sites, attends events, or operates in hospitality or sales environments. Those roles now carry real legal exposure.

What you'll need to have in place

Meeting the "all reasonable steps" standard means having several things working together. Not just written down, but actively used and evidenced.

Your policy needs to be current, clearly written, and specifically address third-party harassment. Staff need to have read it and acknowledged it, with that acknowledgement on record.

Your managers need proper training. Not a quick email or a slide deck they skimmed through once. They need to understand what harassment looks like, how to respond when it's reported, and what their responsibilities are.

You also need reporting routes that your team actually knows about and feels confident using. If people don't know how to report something, or don't trust the process, the route might as well not exist.

Then there's the risk assessment. You need a written assessment that looks at the specific risks in your business, particularly where your people interact with individuals outside the organisation. And critically, you need to show that you acted on what that assessment found.

A risk assessment that sits in a folder and leads to zero changes will do nothing for you if a claim is made.

The financial risk of getting this wrong

Tribunals have the power to add a 25% uplift to compensation awards where an employer hasn't met the preventative duty. That uplift sits on top of the underlying award itself.

So if the original claim results in a substantial payout, that additional 25% can add up to a significant amount. For a small or medium-sized business, that kind of financial hit can be severe.

And beyond the direct cost, there's the time, stress, and reputational damage that comes with a tribunal claim. None of which you want landing on your desk.

Five questions to ask yourself before October

Rather than waiting until the deadline is close, it's worth running through a few honest questions now.

• Does your current policy explicitly reference harassment by third parties such as clients or contractors?

• Can you produce evidence that your team has read and acknowledged the policy?

• Have your managers received any structured training on how to recognise and respond to harassment?

• If an employee wanted to report something today, would they know exactly how to do it?

• Do you have a written risk assessment for roles where your people regularly interact with individuals outside the business, and has anything actually changed as a result of it?

If you're answering "no" or "I'm not sure" to any of those, there's work to do before October 2026. The good news is there's still time to get it sorted.

How HR consultancy services in Ipswich can help

I carry out sexual harassment prevention audits designed to measure where your business currently sits against the "all reasonable steps" standard. The audit looks at your policy, your reporting process, and your risk exposure in third-party situations.

I also deliver manager training so that when something is reported, your team handles it properly from the outset. Not with guesswork, but with a clear process they've been prepared for.

Getting ahead of this before October means you're protected, your people feel safer, and you're not scrambling to pull evidence together after a claim has already been made.

Let's have a conversation

If any of those questions gave you pause, it's worth having a chat about where your business stands.

As an outsourced HR consultant in Ipswich, I work with business owners to get these things in order without overcomplicating it.

There's no obligation and no pressure. Just a straightforward conversation about what you need and how to get there.

Get in touch and we'll find a time that works for you.