Written by Ann Barker, Head of Growth and Engagement, WorkInConfidence
What Does “All” Reasonable Steps” Mean for Employers? (Prevention of Workplace Sexual Harassment 2026 Law Update)
The Workers Protection Act 2024 introduced a new duty for employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. However, upcoming changes under the Employment Rights Bill mean that from October 2026 employers will need to demonstrate they have taken “all reasonable steps”.
This article explains what “all reasonable steps” means in practice, how to evidence compliance, and with 6 months to go, what employers should be doing now.
Many employers already have some good building blocks in place, for example:
An anti-harassment policy
Training content
A grievance process
HR Support
Values and conduct expectations
But the new legislation wording of all reasonable steps changes the question from:
“Do we have something in place?”
to:
“Have we done everything we reasonably can, and can we prove it?”
It’s an important difference, because in the real world, incidents rarely happen out of nowhere. They happen after a build-up of:
Low-level behaviours being normalised
Warnings or signals ignored
Inappropriate comments becoming “banter”
People worrying they won’t be believed
Previous reports going nowhere (or taking too long)
This is exactly what prevention work is designed to stop.
In practice, “all reasonable steps” pushes employers away from a tick-box approach and toward a more joined-up prevention framework.
Having policies, and undertaking training are of course important, but they are not always enough on their own.
The standard is increasingly about whether your controls work in practice.
Which means HR and People Leaders are likely to be asked:
Do people understand what sexual harassment is?
Do Managers know how to respond?
Do people feel safe reporting issues?
Do concerns get handled quickly and fairly?
Are themes identified early, and acted on?
Because if there’s a gap anywhere in that chain, risk increases.
Different organisations will need different measures depending on their size, sector, risk profile, and workforce type. But the most credible prevention approaches often include:
1) Clear, accessible policies people can actually use
Not policies that exist “somewhere”, but guidance that is easy to find, plain English, and actually understood.
2) Training for everyone — practical and refreshed
Generic training can help raise awareness, but the most effective training includes examples and scenarios people can recognise in their day-to-day roles.
3) Enhanced manager training (where most failures happen)
Managers sit at the point of greatest risk and greatest opportunity.
They need confidence and practical help in what to do when a concern is raised, not just what the policy says.
4) Consistent leadership messaging
What leaders reinforce (and what they ignore) can easily become culture.
Prevention work therefore needs visible reinforcement, not just reliance on a statement in a handbook.
5) Safe reporting routes
This is often the biggest gap.
People don’t report because they think:
“Nothing will change”
“It will get back to my manager”
“I’ll be labelled difficult”
“It’s not serious enough”
“I don’t have proof”
Safe reporting routes including Speak Up options help to surface early warning signs before problems escalate.
6) Consistent, fair case handling
Rapid action matters, but this is not the same as rushed action. Rather, timely, transparent, and consistent action that builds trust in the process.
7) Learning loops and continuous improvement
The strongest organisations don’t just “deal with cases.”
They learn from patterns:
hotspots
repeat behaviours
teams with low confidence
recurring categories of concern
And then take early preventative action.
If you’re looking for practical next steps, here are some useful actions that can be done without creating extra noise or workload:
Audit what you already have
Where are the gaps? What isn’t being used in practice?
Check manager confidence
Do managers understand the difference between:
“a complaint”
“a concern”
“something informal”
“a report that needs escalation”?
Test reporting routes
Are they clear? Are they trusted? Are they used?
Make your evidence stronger
If asked to demonstrate “all reasonable steps”, could you show:
training records
communications activity
response timelines
themes identified
actions taken following concerns
Strengthen the feedback loop
When people raise concerns, do they know what happened next (in an appropriate and confidential way)? Silence destroys trust.
If someone raised a concern tomorrow, could you confidently answer:
“What happened next, how quickly did we act, and what changed as a result?”
Because ultimately, that’s what prevention is.
Not a statement of intent.
A repeatable process that reduces risk, protects people, and strengthens culture.
A properly implemented Speak Up route helps an employer to
- Spot early warning signs of harassment and inappropriate behaviour by giving people a safe, accessible way to raise concerns.
- It reduces the “silent suffering” period before issues escalate and demonstrates there’s a route to action, not just a policy on paper.
- It improves auditability: what was raised, when, and what action you took next.
All these factors directly supports prevention, not just response.
A Speak-up platform however, may not be enough on its own. So, what would make it more defensible under “all reasonable steps”?
A tribunal/regulator can see that Speak-Up was embedded into the organisation – not just launched.
Being able to show that people knows it exists e.g. communications, onboarding, posters, intranet, regular reminders.
Managers who receive reports are trained, and know how to respond properly to people in a timely manner.
There is effective triage and case management in place.
Themes are reviewed, risks identified, and actions taken.
It’s integrated with policy, training, culture and leadership behaviours, and you actively reduce barriers like fear of retaliation.
A trusted Speak Up channel is one of the most practical steps employers can take to prevent harassment from escalating, because it enables early reporting, faster intervention, and clearer evidence of action.
At WorkInConfidence, we help organisations capture meaningful employee feedback in a way that supports trust, transparency and action — using anonymous two-way communication designed to encourage honest voice.
If you’d like to explore what that could look like for your organisation, we’re happy to share examples and walk you through it.
We support organisations in creating environments where employees feel safe and confident to call things out. We offer:
- Secure, anonymous two way speak-up channels.
- Case management that ensures issues are tracked and resolved, as well as learnings made and shared.
- Engagement and survey tools (including pre-built surveys) to check on employee confidence in speaking up, and measure the respect culture of your organisation.
Email: help@workinconfidence.com I Tel: 0114 304 9648
A safe and secure two-way anonymous channel for your people to raise concerns via phone, tablet, or PC, ensuring you are aware of any workplace issues, and can respond quickly and accordingly
Easily set up, run and interpret surveys on engagement, respect, wellness or other topics to ensure you always understand your people, their needs and motivations.
A confidential external phone line with a dedicated Speak Up Guardian for your people to raise concerns with. We also provide training in Freedom to Speak Up, Speaking up and safeguarding processes.