Employer liability for third-party harassment

Implementation date: Not expected before 2026

The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions to introduce employer liability for harassment by third parties, and strengthens the duty to prevent sexual harassment.

Under the Bill employers will be liable for third-party harassment of employees in the course of their employment, where the employer has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent this. This provision covers all types of harassment under the Equality Act 2010 (ie is not limited to sexual harassment).

The Bill includes provisions to amend the sexual harassment prevention duty, which was introduced on 26 October 2024, by adding the word "all". Employers will have a duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment. Further regulations will specify what steps are to be regarded as reasonable, in relation to the duty to prevent sexual harassment.

It is not known when these measures will come into force. In its Next Steps to Make Work Pay policy paper, the Government said it expects to begin consulting in 2025 on the various measures covered in the Bill and that it anticipates that "the majority of reforms will take effect no earlier than 2026".