Sexual harassment and other forms of harassment: preventative approaches mandated at last (Roger Kline, 3 July 2026)

Summary

In a LinkedIn article, Roger Kline highlights the significance of the EHRC’s 2024 Sexual harassment and harassment at work: technical guidance. It rightly emphasises the proactive, preventative duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment.

But it goes further and sets out how legislation now applies (with one exception) to any form of harassment linked to most protected characteristics.

Its emphasis is in sharp contrast to the emphasis on supporting individuals to make that characterise much work on equality. The NHS England policy rightly states at para 1.2. “The new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 creates a duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace”. However, in Roger's view, it does not sufficiently emphasise the central importance of the anticipatory requirement on employers.