What employers need to know

There are some very big changes coming to the employment landscape in October 2026, as you may know from our previous Industry Updates. This article provides a handy summary of the biggest and most notable changes for our Members brought about by this phase of the Employment Rights Act 2025.  

In short, as of 30 October 2026, employers’ duties will extend to cover: 

• Taking ‘all reasonable steps’ not merely ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of employees; 

• The duty to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent third-party harassment of their employees; 

• Trade union access rights.  

All Reasonable Steps – Sexual Harassment  

October’s Breakfast Briefing addressed this new requirement, and how much impact three simple letters can have for employers. Watch the recording here. Since 2024, employers have had a legal duty to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment.  

Sexual harassment itself has a broad definition, including verbal, physical, written, non-verbal, online or visual conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. There is no length of service requirement for sexual harassment claims; protections apply from day one, and to those who are still employed.  

The key points is that the tribunal will look to see whether there was anything further that you could reasonably have done to prevent the sexual harassment. Examples include anti-harassment training, grievance process and so forth.  

Therefore, you must not just do something. You must do everything that you can do.  

Note that, for instance, where an instance of sexual harassment were to occur, any steps taken in light of this offence would demonstrate to a tribunal that you as an employer did not take all reasonable steps prior to the offence. We don’t mean to suggest you do nothing in these circumstances, but rather to highlight the importance of being proactive.  

Helpfully, the government have advised they will provide guidance on what it is that this duty entails more fully, however, not until 2027 or 2028! There is non-statutory guidance available from the EHRC, but we would encourage employers to carry out risk assessments now. Even if the guidance does not come until later, the requirements still apply as of the 30th of October, so it is a good idea to begin reviewing your policies and practices, if you’ve not done so already.  

We’d also recommend implementing regular reviews of these policies to make sure that you’ve created the best environment possible designed to avoid sexual harassment in the first place. Also consider things like particular risks related to your workplace or sector, such as changing rooms or travel for work.  

Third-Party Harassment  

The duty to protect against harassment, and to in fact take ‘all reasonable steps’ to do so extends to protecting your staff against the harassment by third parties, and covers all protected characteristics. Any form of harassment against any protected characteristic in the course of employment is sufficient to breach this duty.  

As above, “all reasonable steps” means the obligation to prevent harassment is massively increased.  Therefore, we would recommend updating policies, conducting a risk assessment to identify highest-risk areas, and looking at how you can implement an accessible reporting route. Consider where and how individuals come in contact with third parties, industry-specific risks, and all of the other considerations as above for sexual harassment prevention.  

The emphasis is also on reporting procedures; make sure staff know where to go and how to report any improper encounters to make it as easy as possible to appropriately handle complaints.  

Note that future regulations or guidance may specify particular steps that must be taken, and compliance with these steps will be part of demonstrating all reasonable steps have been taken. There may be further updates.  

Trade Union Access Rights  

There are a number of very consequential changes to the Trade Union landscape this October that are set to reshape the power dynamics between employers and Trade Unions. We’ve already published a few articles on the main changes, and the most recent decision from the government to push back the employer’s duty to inform employees of their right to join a trade union until January 2027. However, the highlights are that, from the 30th of October, employers are expected to:  

• Handle access requests: independent unions may request physical or digital workplace access; terms may be agreed or determined by the CAC.  

• Support representatives: union equality representatives will gain reasonable paid time-off rights, and reasonable accommodation or facilities may need to be provided on request. The Acas Code will be updated to provide specific guidance on this and must be followed.   

• Avoid retaliation and unfair practices: new protections cover detriment linked to protected industrial action and regulated conduct during statutory recognition or derecognition.  

(Related to these obligations and coming in January 2027 is the duty for employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. Employers must give workers a written statement that the worker has the right to join a trade union and inform workers regularly thereafter. This duty extends to all workers, whether the employer recognises a union or not. We are still awaiting further guidance on this, but it looks like the government will provide a standardised statement for employers to give out, informing their employees of the right.) 

But with the changes noted above, it is definitely within the employer’s best interests to engage with the union if you receive a request for access. If the employer and a union which petitions for access cannot agree, the CAC can step in and grant access with its own conditions, which may well be less favourable to the employer than the agreement an employer and union would have come to of their own accord.  

What to do as an employer?  

• Refresh and review policies, perhaps even bringing in a new, separate harassment and/or sexual harassment policy; 

• Bring in extra training for all staff, as well as additional training for managers and leaders;  

• Look out for high-risk hotspots; 

• Ensure there are safe, easy to access and understandable reporting routes; 

• Consider any previous reports of harassment; 

• Consider how you might accommodate union access requests within the workplace; 

• Consider how you might work with the union, or at least negotiate with them to find a middle ground and save CAC-mandated access agreements;  

• Assess third-party risks, including setting clear behavioural expectations, including ant-harassment clauses in contracts, providing employees with guidance on managing third party behaviour, and take immediate action if required; 

• Keep documentation; 

• Monitor consistently, i.e. review policies, training, conduct consistent risk assessments, have an open dialogue with employees, and take action in response to concerns; 

• Provide regular training on workplace propriety, the boundaries of humour and the impact of ‘banter’;  

• Keep an eye on the Legal and HR team’s updates – we will let you know more as soon as we know more!