Worker Protection Act 2024: What Every UK Employer Needs to Know

Since 26 October 2024, every employer in the United Kingdom has been subject to a new legal duty — the obligation to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment.

This is not a soft expectation. It is a statutory duty introduced by the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, which came into force in October 2024. Employment tribunals can now increase compensation awards by up to 25% where an employer is found to have breached this preventative duty.

If you haven’t yet put the right documentation in place, you are already non-compliant.

Before the Worker Protection Act, employers were liable for harassment that occurred in the workplace — but only if they failed to take steps to prevent it after the fact. The law was reactive.

The 2024 Act made the duty proactive. Employers must now demonstrate that they took reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment before any incident occurs. The question a tribunal will ask is not just “what did you do after the complaint?” but “what did you have in place to stop it happening in the first place?”

This is a fundamental shift in how workplace harassment law works in the UK.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published technical guidance identifying the reasonable steps employers are expected to take. These include:

1. A standalone sexual harassment policy. A general dignity-at-work statement in a staff handbook is no longer sufficient. Employers need a dedicated, up-to-date sexual harassment policy that defines prohibited conduct, sets out reporting routes, and explains consequences.
2. A written risk assessment. Employers must assess the specific risks of sexual harassment in their workplace — considering factors like lone working, night shifts, client-facing roles, third-party interactions, and power dynamics. The risk assessment must be documented.
3. Staff training. All staff must receive training on what constitutes sexual harassment, how to report it, and what the employer will do when a complaint is made. Training records must be kept.
4. A formal reporting procedure. Staff must have clear, accessible routes to report harassment — including options that don’t involve their direct line manager where that person may be implicated.
5. Third-party harassment controls. The Act extends the employer’s duty to harassment by third parties — clients, customers, contractors, and visitors. Employers must take reasonable steps to prevent harassment from people outside the organisation too.

All of them. There is no size threshold. Whether you employ two people or two thousand, the preventative duty applies from day one of employment.

Sectors with particular exposure include healthcare and care services (lone working, overnight shifts, client-facing roles, power imbalances with service users and families), hospitality and retail (high third-party contact, junior staff, alcohol-related environments), recruitment and staffing (candidate-facing work, home visits, off-site activity), professional services (client entertainment, conferences, work-related social events), and any sector with remote or lone workers (reduced visibility, limited immediate support).

Employment tribunal uplift: Where a tribunal finds that an employer breached the preventative duty, it can increase any compensation award by up to 25%. Given that tribunal awards for harassment claims can run to tens of thousands of pounds, this uplift is significant.

EHRC enforcement: The Equality and Human Rights Commission has the power to investigate employers and take enforcement action — including issuing unlawful act notices — where it finds evidence of systematic non-compliance.

Reputational damage: Harassment cases that reach tribunal are public. For small businesses, a single high-profile case can be devastating to client relationships, recruitment, and brand reputation.

Insurance implications: Some employers’ liability insurers are beginning to ask about harassment prevention policies as part of underwriting. Absence of documentation can affect both coverage and premiums.

To demonstrate compliance with the Worker Protection Act 2024, you need at minimum:

1. Sexual Harassment Risk Assessment — specific to your workplace, working patterns, and risk profile
2. Anti-Harassment Policy — standalone, up-to-date, covering all forms of harassment including third-party
3. Third-Party Harassment Policy — specifically addressing harassment by clients, customers, contractors, and visitors
4. Harassment Reporting Procedure — clear, accessible, with multiple reporting routes
5. Training Record Template — to document that training has been delivered and to whom

These documents must be tailored to your business. A generic template downloaded from the internet will not demonstrate that you took reasonable steps specific to your workplace.

Healthcare and care services face elevated risk under the Worker Protection Act for several reasons. Lone working means domiciliary care workers visiting clients in private residences face particular risks, with limited immediate support and complex power dynamics. Night shifts mean reduced staffing and management visibility increases vulnerability. Cognitively impaired service users mean staff need specific guidance on managing disinhibited behaviour from residents or clients with dementia or mental health conditions. High proportions of agency and bank staff create training compliance challenges. Third-party harassment from relatives of service users is a documented risk that employers must address.

If you operate in healthcare or care services, your risk assessment and policies must specifically address these factors. A generic policy will not be sufficient.

The Worker Protection Act 2024 is already in force. Every day without the right documentation is a day of legal exposure.

Clausely’s Worker Protection Pack generates five tailored compliance documents for your business — including a Sexual Harassment Risk Assessment specific to your sector, working patterns, and risk profile — in under 10 minutes.