Preventing Workplace Bullying and Harassment: UK Employer Duties
UK employer guide to preventing workplace bullying and harassment. Covers the new preventative duty, legal obligations, policies, and investigation procedures.
Workplace bullying and harassment remain among the most damaging issues an employer can face — damaging to the individuals affected, to team morale, and to the business financially. Since October 2024, UK employers have a new positive legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, with broader anti-harassment protections expected to follow. Failing to meet these obligations can result in tribunal claims, enforcement action from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and a 25% uplift on compensation awards.
This guide covers your legal obligations, the new preventative duty, what constitutes harassment and bullying under UK law, and the practical steps to build a compliant and effective anti-harassment framework.
The legal framework
Harassment is defined under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 as unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment. The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Bullying, by contrast, has no standalone legal definition in UK employment law. However, persistent bullying behaviour can amount to harassment if it relates to a protected characteristic, a breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence (enabling a constructive dismissal claim), or a failure to provide a safe working environment under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Key distinction
Harassment requires a connection to a protected characteristic. Bullying does not — it can target anyone for any reason. However, the practical response should be the same: both are unacceptable, both should be covered by your policy, and both require investigation when reported. The legal distinction matters for tribunal claims, but your workplace standards should not distinguish between them.
The new preventative duty
Since October 2024, employers have a positive duty under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. This is a proactive obligation — you must act before harassment occurs, not just respond after the fact.
The EHRC can take enforcement action against employers who fail to meet this duty, even without an individual complaint. Additionally, if an employee succeeds in a sexual harassment claim at tribunal, the tribunal can increase compensation by up to 25% if the employer failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it.
Third-party harassment
The preventative duty includes protecting employees from harassment by third parties — customers, clients, suppliers, contractors, and members of the public. If your employees interact with external parties and you have not taken steps to address the risk of harassment from those interactions, you are potentially in breach. This is particularly relevant for retail, hospitality, healthcare, and professional services.
What counts as reasonable steps
The EHRC technical guidance sets out factors for assessing whether an employer has taken reasonable steps. These include the size and resources of the organisation, the sector and any known risks, the nature of the working environment and any contact with third parties, and whether existing measures have been effective.
Practically, reasonable steps include developing and communicating a clear anti-harassment and bullying policy, providing regular training for all staff including managers and senior leaders, establishing accessible and confidential reporting channels, investigating complaints promptly and thoroughly, taking appropriate action including disciplinary measures where warranted, conducting regular risk assessments specifically for harassment, monitoring the working environment for warning signs, and reviewing the effectiveness of your measures periodically.
Building your anti-harassment policy
Your policy should cover the scope and application (who it applies to and in what circumstances, including work events and online interactions), clear definitions of harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying with practical examples, a statement that the behaviour will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal, reporting channels including at least one route that bypasses the employee's line manager, an outline of the investigation process and expected timescales, protections against victimisation for raising complaints, and a commitment to regular training and policy review.
For a complete guide to drafting workplace policies, see our staff handbook guide and our grievance procedure guide.
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Investigating complaints
When a complaint is received, you must take it seriously and act promptly. Appoint an impartial investigator — this should not be the complainant's line manager or anyone involved in the alleged incidents. Interview the complainant, the alleged harasser, and any witnesses separately and confidentially. Gather any documentary evidence including emails, messages, and CCTV if relevant. Reach a finding on the balance of probabilities and take appropriate action.
Throughout the process, consider interim measures to protect the complainant — this might include temporary changes to reporting lines, working locations, or shift patterns. The burden of interim disruption should fall on the alleged harasser, not the person who raised the complaint.
For the full disciplinary and investigation process, see our disciplinary process guide.
Pro tip
Keep detailed records of every step in your prevention and response framework. If a claim reaches tribunal, the single most important thing you can show is a documented, proactive approach — regular training records, risk assessments, policy reviews, and consistent investigation outcomes. Tribunals are far more sympathetic to employers who can demonstrate genuine effort, even if the outcome was imperfect.
Training requirements
Training should be delivered to all employees at induction and refreshed at least annually. For managers, additional training should cover recognising early warning signs of bullying and harassment, how to handle disclosures sensitively and confidentially, the investigation process and their role in it, their personal liability under the Equality Act (individuals can be personally liable for acts of harassment), and the new preventative duty and what it means in practice.
Training should include practical scenarios relevant to your workplace, not just abstract legal principles. Role-playing exercises and case studies are significantly more effective than slide-based presentations.
Free Template: Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy
A comprehensive anti-harassment policy template compliant with the 2024 preventative duty, including reporting procedures and investigation guidelines.
anti-harassment-policy-template.pdf
Key takeaways
The legal landscape has shifted from reactive to proactive — you now have an affirmative duty to prevent sexual harassment, not just respond to it. Build a clear policy, deliver regular training, establish confidential reporting channels, and investigate complaints promptly and fairly. The EHRC can enforce without an individual complaint, and tribunals can uplift compensation by 25% if you fail the preventative duty. Use our Compliance Audit to assess your current framework, and review our equality act employer guide for the broader discrimination framework.
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