Survey of 464 HR professionals exposes a training and whistleblowing confidence gap just as new legal protections for workplace harassment disclosures come into force
A large majority (81%) of HR professionals say they plan to increase their efforts on sexual harassment prevention under the Employment Rights Act (ERA), yet fewer than one in twenty rate their current training as excellent, and nearly one in eight say they do none at all.
The findings come from a poll of 464 HR professionals conducted by VinciWorks in March. They land at a critical moment: from 6 April 2026, sexual harassment disclosures become classified as protected whistleblowing under the ERA, meaning workers who raise concerns about sexual harassment must not face detriment for doing so. A second, more demanding duty, requiring employers to take all reasonable steps, rather than reasonable steps, to prevent sexual harassment, follows in October, alongside new liability for third-party harassment by customers, clients and contractors.
Training: a significant gap between intention and practice
Over three-fifths (62%) of respondents said they anticipate doing a bit more on sexual harassment prevention, with a further one in five (19%) saying they anticipate doing a great deal more. But the data on current practice complicates that picture considerably.
Only a small minority (5%) rated their sexual harassment training as excellent. The largest group, nearly two-fifths (43%), described it as “OK, could be better”. A further one in eight (12%) said they do not provide sexual harassment training at all.
Nick Henderson-Mayo, head of compliance at VinciWorks, commented, “These numbers should concern any employer who believes they are broadly compliant. October’s ‘all reasonable steps’ standard will be tested at tribunal, and tribunals have already shown they treat stale or inadequate training as no defence at all. The Lidl case made that evident. The absence of documented, meaningful training was central to an award of over £50,000 in damages and a legally binding remediation agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.”
Whistleblowing: a live risk, not a future one
The whistleblowing findings are particularly pressing given the April deadline. Only a small fraction (5%) of respondents said they were completely confident that their whistleblowing procedures are effective. Around two-fifths (39%) said they were fairly confident, but a combined quarter (25%) described themselves as either slightly confident or not confident at all.
Naomi Grossman, compliance manager at VinciWorks, said, “Sexual harassment complaints have historically been routed through HR grievance processes, and whistleblowing handled separately. The ERA changes that. An employee who witnesses sexual harassment and raises it through a whistleblowing channel is now a protected discloser. Organisations that have not reviewed how those two functions interact are carrying a legal risk they may not have fully mapped.”
Bystander training: aspiration without action
On bystander intervention training, widely recognised as one of the more effective tools for cultural change at work, nearly half (45%) of respondents said they wanted to introduce it but had not yet done so. Fewer than one in ten, only nine per cent, include it as part of annual training. Given that third-party harassment liability also comes into force in October, the gap carries particular weight for organisations with customer-facing or client-facing staff.
Henderson-Mayo added, “The appetite for bystander training is genuine, and it is encouraging. But wanting to do it and having done it are not the same thing when a tribunal asks what reasonable steps were in place at the time of an incident.”
If this data has prompted a review of your training provision, VinciWorks offers a range of courses designed to meet the Employment Rights Act’s strengthened requirements.
Sexual harassment training
- Sexual harassment: a discussion on boundaries and consent
- Tackling sexual harassment in the workplace: a complete guide
- Bullying and harassment: a dialogue on respect
- Browse all sexual harassment courses
Bystander intervention training
