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Preventing Harassment at Work: What Employers Need to Know
Workplace harassment continues to present a serious challenge for employers, with potential legal, financial and reputational consequences for organisations that fail to take appropriate action.
Employer responsibilities have increased significantly in recent years. The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 introduced a new proactive duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace from October 2024, while further changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 are due to come into effect from October 2026.
The scale of the issue remains significant. According to the Office for National Statistics Crime Survey for England and Wales (year ending March 2025):
22.5% of people experienced sexual harassment in the workplace during the previous 12 months
7.1% experienced harassment from a colleague
6.2% experienced harassment by a third party
5.2% experienced sexual harassment from a client, customer or member of the public
For employers, simply having policies in place is no longer enough. Organisations need to take proactive, reasonable steps to prevent harassment, ensure managers understand their responsibilities and be able to demonstrate the action they have taken.
We will be covering:
What constitutes workplace harassment and the different forms it can take
The current legal protections surrounding workplace harassment
What the proactive duty to prevent sexual harassment means for employers
How the latest and upcoming legislative changes affect organisations
What employers should be doing before an issue or complaint arises
How managers can help identify, prevent and respond to inappropriate behaviour
The potential consequences of getting workplace harassment wrong
Practical steps to strengthen policies, training and workplace culture
How organisations can evidence the reasonable steps they have taken to reduce risk
Who the webinar is for?
This webinar will be particularly useful for:
Business owners
Managing Directors
HR professionals
People Managers
Senior Leaders
Compliance and Operations professionals
Join us for an informative and practical session designed to help employers understand their responsibilities, identify potential areas of risk and take meaningful steps to prevent workplace harassment.
Our Employment Law service gives you access to a dedicated team that understands your business.
We’ll help you stay compliant as the law changes and support you with day-to-day people management – without the worry of hourly costs.
We’ll act as an extension of your team, giving you:
Unlimited legally compliant advice
Legally compliant contracts and handbooks
Tribunal support should you need it
Fixed, transparent pricing
Having attended a few WorkNest webinars, I am always impressed with the no-nonsense, well-balanced guidance they provide. Their advice gives me confidence to deal with situations that may arise in an appropriate way and the fact that they follow up with answers to all the questions posed during the webinar is an added bonus.
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Having attended a few WorkNest webinars, I am always impressed with the no-nonsense, well-balanced guidance they provide. Their advice gives me confidence to deal with situations that may arise in an appropriate way and the fact that they follow up with answers to all the questions posed during the webinar is an added bonus.
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