Sexual harassment in the workplace

In the UK, the average settlement for a harassment claim range between £27,000 to £45,000. However, each case is unique, and the payout will be based on specific damages.

In one sexual harassment case, an employment tribunal awarded the claimant over £350,000 in compensation. This case saw a large payout for several reasons but it highlights the importance of handling sexual harassment in the workplace professionally, following the correct investigation procedures and complying with the law.

The key to handling these issues in the workplace is to understand the legal definition of sexual harassment in the workplace and the steps required of a business to manage it responsibly - ideally before it happens.

What is sexual harassment in the workplace?

Under the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010), sexual harassment is defined as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, which has the purpose or effect of either: 

(a) violating the complainant’s dignity; 

or 

(b) creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the complainant 

Examples of sexual harassment at work can include: 

• Verbal harassment: Making inappropriate, sexual comments about someone’s appearance, clothing, body, or behaviour. 

• Non-verbal harassment: Non-verbal harassment can be anything from making gestures at someone, following or stalking, winking, hand gestures and more. 

• Physical harassment: This will include touching someone inappropriately, such as placing a hand on a person’s body, hugging, kissing, touching in an unwelcome manner. 

Sexual harassment can occur in number of ways. Either as a single incident or occurrence or following a pattern of behaviour.

Is sexual harassment a criminal offence in the UK? 

In April 2026, a major shift took place in the UK. Making certain forms of harassment based on a person's sex or involving sexual behaviour became a criminal offence.  

While most cases of sexual harassment remain a civil offence, handled directly by employment tribunals, the following behaviours are now considered a criminal offence: 

• Aggressive catcalling 

• Following someone 

• Blocking their path 

• And/or making obscene or threatening sexual comments in everyday spaces such as on the street, in parks, on public transport or in retail spaces. 

For this to be considered a criminal offence though, the perpetrator must have had intent to cause harassment, alarm, or distress because of the victim’s actual or presumed sex. The victim must also have suffered harassment, alarm or distress due to the behaviour. 

A person found guilty of this offence could face imprisonment of up to two years and/or be subject to an unlimited fine. 

Other types of sexual harassment that may occur in the workplace also cross over with criminal law, including: 

• Physically touching or groping someone is considered sexual assault 

• Indecent exposure or upskirting are both criminal offences 

• Stalking, including using digital methods of repeated messaging or tracking someone 

Employers’ legal responsibilities on sexual harassment

The Equality Act 2010 protects individuals from sexual harassment at work and when applying for a job. This protection does not depend on how long an employee has worked for your business. 

As an employer, you can be held legally responsible for sexual harassment carried out by your employees in the course of their employment. 

Harassment can also take place in work-related situations outside the usual workplace, such as work social events, or through online communications and text messages where there is a sufficient connection to work. 

Since October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 has placed employers under a positive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. This means employers should take proactive steps to identify and address the risk of sexual harassment rather than only responding after an incident has occurred. 

The Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthens worker protections. The ERA broadens the scope of employee protection responsibilities. As well as existing policies, you need to anticipate the risks posed by your customers, clients, patients, contractors and employees. Showing what proactive steps you've taken too, like policies, reporting channels.  

Since 6 April 2026, sexual harassment has been expressly included as a type of wrongdoing that can form the basis of a protected whistleblowing disclosure. Workers who make a qualifying disclosure can be protected against detriment and, where applicable, unfair dismissal.

Prevention of sexual harassment at work

From October 30th 2026, Employers are required to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of employees. This includes the prevention of sexual harassment by third parties such as clients, contractors and customers.

As stronger protections come into effect and employers take on the serious responsibility of protecting employees from sexual harassment, workplace training and guidance is recommended to ensure all managers and employees understand their responsibilities. Further guidance and regulations are expected in 2027 to explain the specific steps deemed "reasonable" for employers to take. 

An effective preventative measure is to create a harassment policy, which is coordinated with your grievance and disciplinary procedures. 

Your policy might include: 

• A clear statement that sexual harassment at work will not be tolerated and will lead to disciplinary action 

• Examples of what constitutes sexual harassment 

• The legal implications, including costs that can arise from personal liability 

• How employees can make a complaint, and the process that will follow 

• A commitment to responding to complaints quickly, confidentially, fairly and with a full investigation 

To ensure the policy is effective, you can make sure it is understood by all staff through induction and training for all employees. You might also require managers to implement the policy and understand their important role in addressing all forms of workplace harassment.

Procedures to deal with sexual harassment complaints

All sexual harassment complaints should be dealt with promptly and thoroughly following the correct sexual harassment procedures. Through early intervention and mediation, you may be able to resolve problems before they become too serious.

Employees should feel able to make their complaint to any manager in case the perpetrator is their own line manager.

Formal procedure

A formal procedure should be triggered when informal measures don’t work or if the allegation warrants an immediate formal route. This procedure should fit with your organisation’s harassment and grievance procedures and should follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures. Complaints should be kept confidential to prevent victimisation.

Investigating a claim of sexual harassment

Formal sexual harassment complaints need to be thoroughly investigated. Gathering all the evidence from both parties as well as any third parties who may be able to provide more information. If you have a policy for sexual harassment in place, you should follow this throughout your investigation. As with any workplace investigation, your own personal views or feelings should not influence the way you deal with a claim of sexual harassment.

Taking disciplinary action

When a complaint is upheld, you should act in line with your organisation’s disciplinary procedure. Disciplinary action for sexual harassment within the workplace can include suspension or termination.

Disciplinary action should be recorded and documented. The best place for this would be our cloud-based HR document storage for unlimited document storage of all important and relevant HR documents. Helping you to keep all important HR documents in one, easy-to-access location. Therefore, both you and the employee can view these documents at any time.

Get support from BrightHR to prevent sexual harassment in your workplace

To prevent sexual harassment from occurring within your workplace, get the guidance and HR advice you need from our employment law specialists. Contact the BrightHR team today for more information or book a demo of our award-winning HR software.