Employment Rights Act 2025: October Changes Explained
Published byJohn Grant
Employers have been faced with increasing obligations in recent years to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace.
Following on from the introduction of a preventative duty in October 2024, the Employment Rights Act 2025 will further strengthen protections, taking effect from 30 October 2026.
The current position in law
Under protections laid out in the Equality Act 2010, sexual harassment occurs when an individual engages in an unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of violating another person’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
Since October 2024, employers have been under a positive duty (a requirement to take proactive, specific action) to take “reasonable steps” to prevent their employees from experiencing sexual harassment in the course of their employment.
This should have led to a shift in approach, from a practice of reacting to complaints, towards taking proactive measures to tangibly reduce the risk of harassment from occurring at all.
Such reasonable steps may include:
• Implementing and regularly reviewing anti-harassment policies
• Providing training for staff and managers
• Maintaining effective reporting procedures
• Investigating complaints promptly
• Fostering a workplace culture where inappropriate behaviour is challenged.
What’s changing from 30 October 2026?
The Employment Rights Act will provide increased protections in two specific areas.
1. The duty becomes one to take “all reasonable steps”
The existing obligation to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment will be replaced with a requirement to take “all reasonable steps”.
Whilst from a first glance, this may appear to be a subtle and insignificant drafting change, it is in fact intended to raise the standards expected of employers.
Indeed, rather than identifying some reasonable measures, employers must demonstrate that they have considered and implemented every reasonable measure which may be available to them, when considering their size, resources, workforce and risk profile.
In the event that there is any step that could have been taken but was not, then this would not constitute “all reasonable steps”.
The Act does not, however, provide for which steps ought to be taken by an individual employer to satisfy these obligations.
It does contain a power for future regulations to set out the measures employers should take and the factors they must consider when preventing sexual harassment.
The changes come into force on 30 October 2026, but the regulations themselves are likely to follow later, meaning employers may be subject to the enhanced duty before detailed guidance is available.
In these circumstances, it is likely that tribunals will examine:
• Whether training is regular and effective rather than a one-off exercise
• Whether policies are actively enforced
• Whether employers assess harassment risks in the workplace
• Whether concerns are monitored and acted upon
• Whether senior management promotes a culture of zero tolerance
2. The return of liability for third-party harassment
The second significant change taking effect from 30 October 2026 is the reintroduction of the protection against harassment from third parties. Accordingly, employers may be liable in such cases where an employee is harassed by a customer, client, contractor, service user or member of the public and the employer has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that harassment.
This closes a gap in the existing law, under which employees have found it difficult to pursue claims arising from harassment perpetrated by individuals who are not fellow employees.
This protection extends beyond harassment and applies to harassment-related protected characteristics, including, sex, race, disability, religion or belief, age and sexual orientation.
As a result, employers must consider beyond their own workforce and put in place measures which safeguards against public facing interactions.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 does not fundamentally alter the definition of sexual harassment. However, it substantially increases employers' preventative obligations.
The requirement to take "all reasonable steps" and the introduction of third-party harassment liability signal a clear move towards a more proactive and preventative framework, placing a greater emphasis on workplace culture, risk assessment and effective enforcement of anti-harassment measures.
This is likely to be one of the most significant employment law developments for employers during 2026.
WJM’s expert employment team are on hand and available to guide you through these changes, for more information and support, please contact employment@wjm.co.uk.
The information contained in this newsletter is for general guidance only and represents our understanding of relevant law and practice as at October 2026. Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP cannot be held responsible for any action taken or not taken in reliance upon the contents. Specific advice should be taken on any individual matter. Transmissions to or from our email system and calls to or from our offices may be monitored and/or recorded for regulatory purposes. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 319 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, G2 5RZ. A limited liability partnership registered in Scotland, number SO 300336.
