Tuesday 17th March 2026 | The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a significantly tougher framework for preventing sexual harassment at work. Employers will be required to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, including harassment by third parties.
At the same time, disclosures of sexual harassment will explicitly qualify as protected disclosures under whistleblowing. This strengthens protections for those who speak up and places greater responsibility on employers to ensure reporting routes are trusted, effective and free from retaliation.
This Personnel Today webinar, in association with learning provider VinciWorks, broke down the steps organisations need to take on sexual harassment compliance under the Employment Rights Act.
Editor Rob Moss was joined by Nick Henderson-Mayo, Head of Compliance, and Naomi Grossman, Compliance Manager at VinciWorks, and Elizabeth Gardiner, Chief Executive of the whistleblowing charity Protect, to explain how the Employment Rights Act builds on other laws, and what HR, legal and compliance teams need to do to demonstrate that all reasonable steps are in place.
From upgrading whistleblowing routes to innovative approaches such as bystander intervention, this session explored how to develop a clear plan for whistleblowing and preventing sexual harassment.
Watch the webinar on demand to learn more about:
- Sexual harassment duties under the Employment Rights Act
- The move from reasonable steps to all reasonable steps
- What action tribunals and regulators expect to see
- Sexual harassment as a protected whistleblowing disclosure
- Bystander intervention as a reasonable preventative step
- Third-party harassment and employer liability from the first incident