Changes to harassment laws // Employment & Incentives

Episode 2: Introducing the Employment Rights Act 2025 Speakers: Kloe Halls, Anjali Raval, Alice Dunn Workplace harassment laws are set for the biggest overhaul in over a decade under the new Employment Rights Act 2025 (“ERA 2025”).  In our podcast, we discuss how employers can prepare for the four headline changes:  Strengthening the duty to prevent sexual harassment. The duty to take 'reasonable steps' to prevent sexual harassment of staff will be ramped up to ‘all reasonable steps’ from October 2026.   Employer liability for third-party harassment. Employers will be liable if they fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent third parties from harassing staff from October 2026.   Whistleblowing protection for disclosures about sexual harassment. The ERA 2025 adds sexual harassment as a new category of wrongdoing about which workers can blow the whistle, effective from April 2026.  Banning confidentiality clauses for harassment and discrimination. This will be subject to a concept of an ‘excepted agreement’ where the ban won’t apply.