Anti-harassment policy

Employers now have a positive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff, including by customers and clients, with compensation increased by up to a quarter where they fail, and the regulator's guidance expects a risk assessment, a policy, training, reporting routes and a response that is seen to work. The policy has to define harassment and bullying, set the steps the duty requires, deal with third parties and events, provide reporting routes people will use, and handle investigations and confidentiality within what the law now permits. I draft the policy for the employer as part of the handbook and core policies for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales who want to meet the preventative duty and handle complaints properly, and employers whose policy predates the duty.

What matters in an anti-harassment policy

Harassment under the Equality Act and bullying outside it

Harassment under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic, or of a sexual nature, that violates a person's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment, judged by the perception of the person, the circumstances and whether it was reasonable for the conduct to have that effect; bullying that is not connected to a protected characteristic is not unlawful under the Act but is a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence, a health and safety matter and a disciplinary one, and the policy should cover both, with examples that reflect how harassment happens in practice (messages, jokes, exclusion, conduct at events) rather than a list of abstractions.

The duty to prevent sexual harassment and the reasonable steps it requires

Section 40A of the Equality Act 2010, inserted by the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of employment, with a compensation uplift of up to a quarter where a tribunal finds a breach and enforcement by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, whose guidance expects a risk assessment identifying where sexual harassment is likely (events, lone working, customer-facing roles, power imbalances), a policy, training, reporting channels, action on complaints and monitoring; the policy should record the steps the employer takes and should be reviewed as the Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthens the duty on a timetable the regulations set.

Third parties, events and the places harassment happens

The preventative duty covers harassment by third parties (customers, clients, patients, suppliers, the public), and the Employment Rights Act 2025 is reintroducing employer liability for third-party harassment on a timetable the regulations set, so the policy should set the steps the employer takes to protect staff from third parties (notices, the right to end an interaction, the escalation, the banning of offenders, the support), should cover work social events, client hospitality, travel and online spaces as places where the employer's standards apply, and should say how staff report conduct by people the employer does not employ.

Reporting routes and the handling of complaints

The policy should provide more than one route to report (the line manager, HR, a named senior person, an anonymous or informal route), should say that reports can be made by witnesses as well as those affected, should set out the informal options (a conversation facilitated by HR, mediation) and the formal procedure (a written complaint under the grievance procedure or a separate harassment procedure, with the right to be accompanied under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999), and should promise protection from victimisation under section 27 of the Equality Act 2010 for anyone who reports or gives evidence; a reporting route nobody trusts is the finding the regulator's guidance anticipates.

Investigations, outcomes and the support for both sides

The policy should set the investigation (prompt, by someone independent of the parties, with interviews recorded, interim measures such as separation or suspension considered without prejudging), the decision and the sanctions under the disciplinary procedure (harassment as gross misconduct), the feedback to the person who complained within the limits of confidentiality, the support offered to both parties (the employee assistance programme, time off, adjustments), and the handling of malicious complaints, which should be rare and dealt with carefully; the person accused has rights under the disciplinary procedure, and the policy should respect both.

Confidentiality, non-disclosure terms and what the law now limits

The policy should state the confidentiality that applies to complaints and investigations, the limits on it (the employer's duties to act and to report where required, the protection for whistleblowing under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, which treats sexual harassment as a subject of qualifying disclosure since the Employment Rights Act 2025 added it), and the position on settlement terms: the Employment Rights Act 2025 provides that non-disclosure terms are void so far as they prevent a worker disclosing harassment or discrimination, on a timetable the regulations set, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority's guidance already restricts what confidentiality terms may do, so a policy that promises silence in exchange for settlement promises what the law does not allow.

What it costs

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

What are the reasonable steps the duty requires?

The regulator's guidance expects a risk assessment, a policy, training, reporting channels, action on complaints and monitoring, proportionate to the business. The policy records the steps and is the evidence of the first of them.

Are we responsible for a customer harassing a member of staff?

The preventative duty covers harassment by third parties, and the 2025 Act is reintroducing liability for it. The policy sets the steps the employer takes to protect staff from customers and how staff report it.

Can a settlement agreement keep a harassment complaint confidential?

Only within the limits the law now sets: whistleblowing cannot be gagged, and the 2025 Act makes non-disclosure terms void so far as they prevent disclosing harassment or discrimination once in force. The policy and the settlement terms are drafted to those limits.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £995, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Equality and diversity policy
• Settlement agreement after a grievance

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.