Duty to prevent sexual harassment of employees

Implementation date: 26 October 2024

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, provides for a positive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment.

The Act received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 (under the previous Conservative Government) and is due to come into force one year after that date, on 26 October 2024. 

Following amendments to the original Bill, the Act does not introduce employer liability for third-party harassment of employees.

The Labour Government has said, in its pre-election Plan to make work pay, that it intends to require employers to "maintain workplaces...free from harassment, including by third parties" and that it will strengthen the duty to prevent sexual harassment. The detail of these additional measures, and when they will be brought into effect, is not yet known.