Sexual harassment is not just inappropriate behaviour. Under UK law, it is a specific form of unlawful conduct that can expose employers to serious legal, cultural, and reputational risk.
For leaders, HR teams, and managers, understanding the legal definition matters because prevention is no longer optional. UK law now places a clearer duty on employers to take proactive steps to stop sexual harassment before it happens.
In UK employment law, sexual harassment is defined under the Equality Act 2010 as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of either:
violating someone’s dignity, or
creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for them.
That definition is important because it focuses on both what happened and how it affected the person on the receiving end. A person does not have to prove that the behaviour was intended to cause harm. If the conduct had that effect, it may still amount to sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment can take many forms. It may be a one-off incident or a repeated pattern of behaviour. It can happen face to face, online, at work events, in messages, on video calls, or through workplace culture more broadly.
Examples can include:
sexual comments about someone’s body, clothes, or appearance
intrusive questions about someone’s sex life
unwanted flirting or suggestive messages
sharing sexual images or content
sexual jokes or so-called “banter”
unwanted touching, hugging, or physical contact
sexual advances or pressure for sexual contact
The law does not require the behaviour to be aimed at one person alone. A wider culture of sexualised comments, images, or conduct can also create an offensive environment and give rise to a claim.
Protection can extend to employees, workers, job applicants, and in some circumstances contractors or self-employed people engaged personally to do work.
Sexual harassment can be carried out by colleagues, managers, senior leaders, clients, customers, or other third parties someone encounters through work.
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 strengthened employer responsibilities. Since 26 October 2024, employers have had a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees in the course of employment. This changes the conversation from reacting to complaints after the fact to actively reducing risk in advance.
Reasonable steps might include:
carrying out risk assessments
setting clear behavioural standards
creating or updating a sexual harassment policy
training staff and managers
improving reporting routes
addressing risks linked to clients, customers, events, travel, or power imbalances
reviewing incidents and learning from them
If an employment tribunal finds sexual harassment occurred and also finds the employer failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it, compensation can be increased by up to 25%.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 does not replace the core definition of sexual harassment. That definition still sits in the Equality Act 2010. What the 2025 Act does is strengthen the legal framework around prevention and protection.
In particular, it strengthens the employer duty in the Equality Act so that employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, rather than simply reasonable steps.
It also supports a broader shift towards stronger worker protections in cases involving sexual harassment, including reforms connected to whistleblowing and the future development of regulations that may specify what counts as reasonable preventative action.
For employers, the practical message is clear: the legal focus is no longer just on responding appropriately after harassment happens, but on taking thorough, proactive steps to reduce the risk in the first place.
Employers should not wait for a complaint before taking action. A stronger legal duty means organisations need to think proactively about culture, leadership behaviour, reporting confidence, and practical safeguards.
That includes asking:
Where are the risks in our workplace?
Are managers trained to spot and respond to concerns?
Do people trust our reporting process?
Are we considering third-party risks such as clients and events?
Are our policies clear, current, and actually used?
Preventing sexual harassment is not only about legal compliance. It is about creating a culture where people are safe, respected, and able to do their best work.
Under UK law, sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that violates dignity or creates an offensive, hostile, humiliating, degrading, or intimidating environment. The Equality Act 2010 provides the core definition.
The Worker Protection Act 2023 strengthens the duty on employers to prevent it. And the Employment Rights Act 2025 can become relevant when concerns are raised through whistleblowing or where harassment contributes to dismissal-related disputes.
For employers, the message is clear: understanding the definition is only the starting point. The real test is whether your organisation is taking meaningful, reasonable steps to prevent harm before it happens.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For advice on specific circumstances, seek qualified employment law guidance.