The one year anniversary of the Worker Protection Act sees an increase in awareness and reporting of sexual harassment
One Year On: What’s Changed?
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, which came into force on 26 October 2024, introduced a new legal duty for employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This marked a shift from reactive handling to proactive prevention.
Key Statistics and Trends
As of mid-2025, there have been at least 125 sexual harassment-related employment tribunal decisions across England, Wales, and Scotland.
Average compensation awards for sex discrimination and harassment claims in 2025 reached £53,403, the highest among all discrimination categories.
ACAS received 5,600 harassment-related calls between January and June 2025 — a 39% increase from the same period in 2024.
What this means for Schools, Academies and Trusts
- The rise in tribunal cases and helpline enquiries suggests that more employees are coming forward, possibly due to greater legal protections and public discourse around workplace sexual harassment.
- Under the duty employers must demonstrate they have taken “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment, including:
- Regular training
- Clear policies
- Anonymous reporting tools
- Cultural reinforcement (e.g. reminders before events)
Looking Ahead
- The EHRC is expected to step up enforcement in 2026, targeting sectors with poor compliance.
- Employers should prepare for more scrutiny of their “reasonable steps”, including documentation, training records, and cultural indicators.
- The Employment Rights Bill will see this duty strengthened further, and schools, academies and trusts will be required to take ‘all’ reasonable steps, the upshot of that is if employers fail to take one step which the Tribunal feels is reasonable will mean employers are potentially in breach of the duty.
- The Employment Rights Bill will also introduce liability for third party harassment, which means schools, academies and trusts will be required to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment of their members of staff by third parties, this will include all types of harassment not just sexual harassment.
Bespoke Resources for our HR Connect customers
We have in place [can we include here link/QR code to current resources for sexual harassment]
And also link to Masterclass series which will provide bespoke practical training on the changes to third party harassment