All reasonable steps: Are you ready for the new sexual harassment prevention duty?

From 30 October 2026, you will be required to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. If you are preparing for the Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms, this is not just another policy update. It is a shift towards being able to prove that prevention is happening in practice.

At first glance, it looks like a small change.

After all, you are already required to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. So adding the word all doesn't sound particularly dramatic.

In reality, it could be one of the most significant changes to workplace compliance in recent years. The reform strengthens the existing preventative duty, which took effect in October 2024 under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 and shifts the focus further towards proactive prevention rather than reactive intervention.

The problem?

Further guidance is likely to shape exactly how the new duty is applied in practice, but the direction of travel is already clear: you will need to show proactive prevention, not just reactive response.

Many organisations appear to be focusing on policies, when the real issue is whether you can evidence the practical steps you have taken to prevent sexual harassment.

You should be focusing on evidence.

That distinction matters because the new duty is likely to expose a gap between organisations that can say they take sexual harassment seriously and organisations that can prove they have taken meaningful preventative action.

Why policies alone won't be enough

Over the last 18 months, you may have updated your Anti-Harassment Policy, refreshed your employee handbook and rolled out some form of sexual harassment training.

Those are all positive steps.

But they may not be enough.

When an employment tribunal, regulator or investigator looks at a sexual harassment complaint, the question is becoming less about what you say your standards are and more about what you did to uphold them.

Simply producing a policy document is unlikely to answer the questions that sit at the heart of workplace sexual harassment compliance, such as:

• How did you identify risks?
• How did you communicate expectations?
• What training was delivered?
• How often was training refreshed?
• How did employees report concerns?
• What action was taken when concerns were raised?
• How did management monitor workplace culture?
• What steps were taken to prevent problems before they occurred?

The reality is that most organisations can produce a policy.

Far fewer can demonstrate how that policy operated in practice.

What does "all reasonable steps" actually mean for you?

The most common response we hear is:

"We've never had a complaint."

You may see this as evidence that there isn't a problem.

In reality, it may mean something very different.

Many incidents of sexual harassment go unreported. Employees may worry about the consequences of speaking up, may not trust reporting processes or may not believe anything will change.

The absence of complaints is not necessarily evidence that risk does not exist.

That matters because the legal duty is not triggered only when somebody raises a grievance.

You are expected to anticipate where risks may arise and take preventative action. That is why preventing sexual harassment at work now needs to involve active risk review, meaningful training and clear reporting routes, not simply a policy update. You should not wait for issues to escalate before acting.

What is changing in October 2026?

Historically, many investigations focused on one question:

"What did you do when the complaint was raised?"

Increasingly, the question is becoming:

"What did you do before the complaint was raised?"

That is a very different test.

It shifts the focus towards:

• Risk identification
• Management capability
• Workplace culture
• Training effectiveness
• Reporting confidence
• Preventative action
• Organisational awareness

In short, you may need to demonstrate that you actively sought to prevent sexual harassment, rather than simply responding appropriately when incidents occurred. This is why the move from reasonable steps to all reasonable steps is becoming more than a legal wording change. It is becoming a practical test of what you actually do.

Why workplace culture matters in sexual harassment prevention

For years, workplace culture has been viewed as a leadership challenge.

Now it is rapidly becoming a compliance challenge as well.

Sexual harassment rarely starts with serious misconduct.

More often it begins with:

• Inappropriate comments
• Sexual jokes
• "Banter"
• Boundary issues
• Persistent attention
• Inappropriate messages
• Behaviour that becomes normalised over time

Many organisations tolerate low-level behaviour because nobody formally complains.

The risk is that you create an environment where inappropriate conduct is accepted until somebody eventually raises a concern.

By that point, the question becomes:

Why wasn't anything done earlier?

The expectation is increasingly that you challenge problematic behaviour before it becomes a formal complaint. In practical terms, workplace culture and harassment prevention are now closely linked. A weak culture can create legal risk just as quickly as a weak policy.

Third-party harassment and your responsibility

One area that receives far less attention is the risk posed by people who do not work for your organisation. These third parties could be:

• Customers
• Clients
• Visitors
• Contractors
• Patients
• Residents
• Family members
• Service users

The forthcoming reforms strengthen expectations around preventing harassment by third parties, and many organisations may find this is where their biggest risks sit. You should be able to show you have considered risks from customers, clients, visitors, residents, patients, service users and contractors.

This is particularly relevant for sectors such as:

• Care
• Hospitality
• Healthcare
• Retail
• Leisure

You may have historically accepted certain behaviours because they came from customers, residents or visitors.

Increasingly, that may become more difficult to justify.

The expectation is that organisations have considered the risk, implemented appropriate controls and taken reasonable action where concerns arise. That may include a sexual harassment risk assessment, clear incident reporting routes, manager guidance and action where repeat issues occur.

What evidence will you need?

You may genuinely want to do the right thing.

The challenge is proving it.

Good intentions are difficult to evidence.

A documented approach is not.

Can you demonstrate that you have:

• Reviewed risks?
• Trained managers?
• Trained employees?
• Refreshed training?
• Considered third-party risks?
• Reviewed reporting arrangements?
• Investigated concerns?
• Monitored trends?
• Taken corrective action?

Because when you are challenged, evidence matters far more than assurances.

The move towards "all reasonable steps" is likely to place even greater emphasis on demonstrating what was actually done. A sexual harassment prevention checklist, risk assessment records, training logs, management actions and review notes may all become important evidence if an organisation is challenged.

How to prevent sexual harassment at work

The mistake many employers will make is waiting for further guidance before taking action.

The direction of travel is already clear.

You should be reviewing whether you can genuinely demonstrate a proactive approach to preventing sexual harassment at work rather than relying on policies and training records alone.

For some organisations, this will involve relatively minor improvements.

For others, it may require a much broader review of culture, management capability, reporting mechanisms and organisational risk.

The question isn't whether sexual harassment is currently a problem in your organisation.

The question is whether you could demonstrate that you've done everything reasonably expected to prevent it. That means reviewing risk, strengthening management response, improving reporting routes and ensuring sexual harassment prevention is part of day-to-day culture.

Are you ready for the "all reasonable steps" test?

One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding the new duty is that you only need to review your arrangements after an issue has arisen.

By that point, it is already too late.

You should be taking proactive steps now to understand where risks exist and whether your existing controls are robust enough.

That's exactly why Cornerstone developed the Respect & Safety Review, a practical sexual harassment prevention review designed to help you assess whether your current arrangements would stand up to scrutiny.

Cornerstone's Respect & Safety Review goes beyond policies and training records. It helps you identify sexual harassment risks, review reporting arrangements, assess workplace culture and understand whether your current controls are strong enough to support compliance with the all reasonable steps duty.

The review provides a practical action plan to help you evidence the steps you are taking to prevent sexual harassment and prepare for the move from "reasonable steps" to "all reasonable steps". It is designed to support legal compliance, strengthen workplace culture and give you a clearer view of what still needs to be improved.

Cornerstone has also developed specific training sessions for managers and team members; these are interactive sessions which are tailored to your organisation and delivered for you in-person or online.  Here's more information on our training offering in this area: Sexual Harassment Prevention Training | Creating Safe Workplaces 

Final thoughts

You may currently be asking:

"Do we need to update our Sexual Harassment Policy?"

That is probably the wrong question.

A better question, and the one you should be asking now, is:

"If a tribunal investigated our organisation tomorrow, could we demonstrate all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment?"

Because when the legal test becomes all reasonable steps, that is likely to be the question that matters most. If you prepare early, you will be better placed to evidence your approach to sexual harassment prevention, workplace culture and third-party harassment risk.

And for many organisations, the answer may not be as comfortable as they think.