Sexual harassment legislation is spread across multiple acts in the UK. If you’re an employer, you need to be aware of these acts and their implications for your business.
This guide explores UK sexual harassment law and what employers must do to protect their staff from unwanted sexual behaviour.
This guide focuses on workplace duties in Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has separate equality legislation. The changes due on 30 October 2026 are identified below.
Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual behaviour that has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or creating a hostile, intimidating, humiliating, offensive or degrading environment.
This is a broad definition that covers many types of harassment in many different mediums. Examples include:
A single incident can qualify as sexual harassment. The behaviour does not have to be directed at the person affected.
Under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010, unwanted sexual behaviour counts as harassment if:
When assessing the effect, a tribunal considers the person’s perception, the circumstances and whether it was reasonable for the conduct to have that effect. Describing behaviour as banter, compliments or “harmless” jokes does not automatically provide a defence.
The Equality Act 2010 provides the main workplace protections in Great Britain. Several other acts strengthen those protections or address behaviour that may also be a criminal offence.
In Northern Ireland, workplace sexual harassment is covered by the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976. The Equality Act preventative duty and the October 2026 changes discussed below apply in Great Britain.
Our Sexual Harassment Training course educates employees on what constitutes sexual harassment and how it impacts people. The course helps employees recognise unacceptable behaviour and understand what to do if they witness or experience it.
The Equality Act 2010 is the most important piece of sexual harassment legislation in Great Britain. It sets the legal framework for sexual harassment at work. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has powers to enforce the Act.
There are three types of harassment made illegal by the Act:
The Equality Act 2010 also provides for “vicarious liability”, which can make employers liable for acts of sexual harassment committed by their staff in the course of employment. It does not matter weather the act is done with employer’s knowledge or approval.
Employees who have experienced sexual harassment can bring a claim to an employment tribunal, including employees who witness a conduct that meets the legal definition in relation to them. Claims can be made against the individual responsible, their employer or both, depending on the circumstances.
Tribunal time limits changed on 1 October 2026. For most claims concerning events on or after that date, the usual limit is six months minus one day; earlier events generally remain subject to three months minus one day. Notifying Acas in time can pause the clock for early conciliation. Internal grievance procedures do not pause it, and cases involving repeated or continuing conduct need careful deadline checks.
If complaints against you are successful, a tribunal can order you to pay compensation. There is no statutory upper limit on compensation for sexual harassment.
You have a statutory defence to vicarious liability if you can prove that you took “all reasonable steps” to prevent the harassment or conduct of that kind. This defence already applies, and it is separate from the preventative duty strengthened from 30 October 2026.
The Act also prohibits victimisation: treating someone detrimentally because they made or supported a discrimination complaint or did another protected act. A complaint does not have to succeed for this protection to apply, although false allegations made in bad faith are excluded.
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 (WPA) amended the Equality Act 2010. Since 26 October 2024, it has required employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees in the course of their employment.
Under this duty, you must anticipate when employees are at risk of sexual harassment and take reasonable steps to prevent it. If harassment has already happened, you need to prevent it from repeating.
The preventative duty covers sexual harassment by colleagues and third parties such as customers, clients and patients. Its purpose is to require action before sexual harassment occurs.
To meet this duty, you need to:
To underline the seriousness of these new duties, the WPA also introduced new consequences for non-compliance.
The EHRC can take action against you if you fail to implement protections against sexual harassment, even if harassment hasn’t actually happened. A tribunal can also increase compensation by up to 25% where it upholds a sexual harassment claim and finds that the employer breached the preventative duty.
An individual cannot bring a standalone tribunal claim solely for breach of the preventative duty. The compensation uplift depends on a successful sexual harassment claim.
You can read more about the Worker Protection Act here.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthens these protections in stages. Some changes are already in force, while others begin on 30 October 2026.
Since 6 April 2026, sexual harassment has been an explicit category of wrongdoing under whistleblowing law. A disclosure must still meet the legal conditions, including the worker’s reasonable belief that it is in the public interest. Workers who make protected disclosures are protected against detriment, and employees are protected against dismissal for that reason.
Regulation 3 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 Commencement No. 6 Regulations brings the following changes into force on 30 October 2026:
Sexual harassment legislation also includes the following acts.
The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 can also apply to sexual harassment. In England and Wales, it prohibits a course of harassing conduct which the person knows or ought to know amounts to harassment. Conduct towards one person must involve at least two occasions. Scotland has separate provisions within the Act.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 covers offences such as sexual assault in England and Wales. Intentional sexual touching without consent can be prosecuted under this Act where the person touching does not reasonably believe the other person consents. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate sexual offences legislation.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) doesn’t contain specific laws on harassment but is worth mentioning.
Under the HSWA, employers must protect their employees’ health, safety and welfare so far as reasonably practicable. Sexual harassment can harm mental and physical health. HSE guidance confirms that employers must assess work-related stress risks and act on them.
The most important thing is to be proactive in preventing sexual harassment. Don’t wait for employees to come to you with complaints. You need to anticipate and manage sexual harassment risks across your operations to deter any unwanted behaviour.
Key actions include:
These actions should reflect your workplace risks and circumstances. The EHRC’s eight-step guide and Acas prevention guidance explain how to develop and review suitable measures.
Our online Sexual Harassment Awareness Training helps employees and managers recognise unwanted sexual behaviour and understand what to do if they experience or witness it. The course covers legal responsibilities, workplace examples and approaches to prevention.
Training is one part of prevention. Employers also need effective policies, reporting arrangements and action on workplace risks, with additional guidance for managers who handle complaints.
