Acas – new guidance on sexual harassment and third-party harassment

From the 30 October 2026, the law will change so employers will be liable for third party harassment.

Sexual harassment

Employers must take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their workers. This includes protecting workers from online and in-person sexual harassment. This is a change from the current wording of ‘reasonable steps’.

Third-party harassment

In addition, employers will be liable for harassment from third parties such as clients or customers, students and parents unless they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent it.

Reasonable steps mean taking steps that are reasonable for your school, preventing harassment rather than reacting to incidents, and taking steps that apply across the whole school.

Acas guidance

Acas has recently published guidance on sexual harassment and third-party harassment. The link can be found here.

Advice to schools going forward

To reduce the risk of claims and ensure compliance with the law, schools should consider the following actions to determine whether any additional measures are required in advance of the change in law.

• Assessing risks for third-party harassment.
• Monitoring and recording any incidents of third-party harassment or sexual harassment.
• Ensure a policy is in place setting out how to report any incidents and steps to deal with any incidents. This could include harassment, dignity at work and a separate sexual harassment policy.
• Training relevant staff.
• Ensuring any client contracts cover expectations and responsibilities in relation to preventing and reporting sexual harassment and third-party harassment.
• Ensuring steps are in place to prevent sexual harassment and third-party harassment.

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