41% of British Employers Polled Did Not Know the Harassment Duty Tightens on October 30

Employers in England, Wales and Scotland are due to face a stricter duty from October 30, 2026: take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of their workers, up from "reasonable steps", and answer for harassment by customers and clients unless they can show the same effort. The law firm Bevan Brittan set out the change on October 7, 2026.

One added word, and the question it changes

The current duty dates from October 26, 2024, when the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 took effect, according to Acas, Britain's workplace advice service. Acas says it already covers harassment from other people at work and from third parties such as customers and clients.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 changes one word. Section 20 inserts "all" into the preventative duty, according to the HR compliance firm WPC HR, which publishes software and advice for employers.

EthicsVision, a British firm that trains workplace investigators, puts the shift this way: "One additional word might not sound transformative." Its argument is that the test moves from what an employer did to what it can show. The question becomes "can we demonstrate that we did so?", after asking which risks were identified and which measures were available.

WPC HR reads the new wording through an existing legal test. Under it, an employer has taken all reasonable steps only if there was no further step it could reasonably have been expected to take. The firm adds that brief or stale training has failed that test before.

The practical method comes from Acas, whose guidance for employers says they must assess risks and put measures in place, and cannot wait until harassment happens. If it has already happened, the employer must act to stop it recurring. The steps are to consider the risks, consider the steps that could reduce them, decide which of those are reasonable, and take them. Acas lists higher-risk situations such as meeting clients or service users alone and working where people are drinking alcohol. It also says there is no set list of steps that all employers must take, which leaves the judgment with the employer.

The duty does not wait for a complaint, WPC HR notes.

A breach carries a price. Bevan Brittan says that where a worker is harassed and the employer breached its preventative duties, compensation could rise by up to 25%. WPC HR adds that the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the equality regulator, can enforce the duty even where no incident has occurred.

Where authority sits on the risk list

The guidance names power as a risk. EthicsVision says the regulator's guidance already recommends identifying factors that could raise the likelihood of harassment, including power imbalances, lone or night working, customer-facing roles, alcohol, external events and job insecurity.

Acas repeats the point in an article by Jen Lobley, one of its senior policy advisers, published on September 15, 2026. Her list of risks runs from workplace culture and power imbalances to lone working, work social events, low confidence in reporting processes and "a perception that inappropriate behaviour is tolerated".

One sentence in that article carries the most weight for anyone who has worked under a manager. "low levels of reporting do not necessarily mean low levels of risk", Lobley writes, because workers may not feel confident that concerns will be taken seriously or handled fairly.

A silent complaints log can mean a safe workplace. It can also mean that saying no costs more than staying quiet.

Authority at work rests on an agreement that is supposed to be revocable: a worker accepts direction, and keeps the right to refuse what no job can ask. The guidance asks employers to measure that imbalance rather than assume it away.

EthicsVision makes a related point about paperwork. A policy, it says, cannot tell an employer whether managers know what to do when someone discloses harassment, or whether staff who deal with customers know how to respond when a boundary is crossed. The firm asks employers to look beyond documentation.

None of these sources offers a study of how often power imbalances lead to harassment. The guidance lists them as factors to assess, with no figures attached.

Customers, patients and contractors come into scope

The second change widens who the employer answers for. Acas says organisations could be liable if harassment comes from a third party, unless they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent it. It lists clients, customers, members of the public and people at conferences or events.

Bevan Brittan calls this an entirely new duty that extends to harassment of any kind by customers, clients, service users and patients. WPC HR is narrower: it says the new section covers harassment related to seven protected characteristics, plus sexual harassment, and that one incident is enough.

The same firm says an employee can bring the claim directly against the employer, and that there is no requirement that the employer knew of earlier incidents. It sets that against the older third-party rules repealed on October 1, 2013, which needed repeated incidents.

Acas gives examples of what an employer might do: clear policies, staff briefings, signage for customers, security measures, and a review of supplier and customer contracts. In its September 15 article it adds enough staffing in the environment and safety equipment such as personal alarms.

The measures are unglamorous. A sign telling customers what follows if they harass staff is cheap. Enough people on shift to make refusing a customer safe is not, which may explain why the law asks for a demonstration rather than a notice.

What a poll of 1,050 employers found

On September 3, 2026, Acas published a survey that gave the warning its number: 41% of employers were unaware of the coming change. The other 59% were aware. YouGov polled 1,050 senior decision makers in Great Britain online, with fieldwork from April 27 to May 6, 2026.

"Most employers are up to speed on upcoming new responsibilities to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work but it's concerning that 2 in 5 bosses are not," said Julie Dennis, Acas Head of Inclusivity, in the release.

The fieldwork ended months before the date, and the release does not say how awareness has moved since. Acas, which also runs training and events on the subject, commissioned the poll.

Ministers backed the warning.

Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, said in the same release that "Feeling safe from sexual harassment in the workplace should be the absolute bare minimum." She told employers to act now.

A date announced, and no list of steps

The date comes with a condition. WPC HR wrote on September 25, 2026 that sections 20, 21 and 22 of the Act were enacted but not in force, and that no commencement regulations had been made for them. It said the government's employer guidance, updated on September 17, 2026, and Acas both give October 30, 2026, so employers should treat it as the deadline.

Bevan Brittan, writing on October 7, states the change as taking effect from October 30, 2026, and its article does not mention commencement regulations.

The second gap concerns content. There is no official list of required steps. WPC HR says ministers can specify steps in regulations and that none have been made, with the government expecting them in 2027/28 after consultation. Bevan Brittan puts the publication next year and says they may include risk assessments, published plans and policies, and rules on reporting and handling complaints.

Until then, employers decide what is reasonable for their size, sector and work, and record why. Acas says there is no set list of steps that all employers must take. In the meantime Bevan Brittan advises following the regulator's guidance as a minimum.

Three of the sources here, Bevan Brittan, EthicsVision and WPC HR, sell legal advice, training or software to the employers they warn, and each describes the duty in terms that make the product look necessary. Their readings of the statute agree with Acas on the date and on the 25% uplift.

The scope is limited. EthicsVision says the provisions apply in England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland is outside them, and so are the United States and any other jurisdiction, which have their own rules that none of these sources covers.

A further change already applies to the same subject. WPC HR says reporting this kind of harassment has been a protected whistleblowing disclosure since April 6, 2026, and from October 1, 2026 a claim can be brought up to six months after the act, instead of three.

The next fixed point is the calendar. On October 30, 2026, the stricter duty and the third-party liability are due to begin.

Sources

• Acas urges employers to prepare for sexual harassment law changes, Acas, September 3, 2026
• Sexual harassment at work: why prevention cannot wait, Acas, September 15, 2026
• Preventing sexual harassment, Acas guidance for employers
• Employment Rights Act 2025, table of contents, legislation.gov.uk