For many years, organisations focused on responding to sexual harassment after it happened.

The law has now shifted that expectation.

Employers are now under a proactive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment before it occurs. That's a significant change in focus, which requires a significant change in practice for many organisations.  

It's no longer enough to have a policy sitting on the intranet or require employees to complete an annual eLearning module on the Equality Act and hope that covers it. Organisations now need to consider whether the steps they're taking are actually effective.

That means reviewing policies, providing meaningful training, supporting managers to respond appropriately and confidently, assessing workplace risks and creating reporting and recording processes that people genuinely trust.

It also means recognising that organisational culture matters.

If employees believe raising concerns will damage their career, or if inappropriate behaviour is routinely dismissed as "banter", policies alone won't protect anyone.

Preventing harassment isn't just about reducing legal risk. It improves psychological safety, staff wellbeing, retention, reputation and organisational performance.

If an Employment Tribunal asked your organisation to demonstrate the 'reasonable steps' it has taken, how confident would you be in the evidence available?

The new legal duty provides an opportunity for us to ask ourselves the question:

"What kind of workplace are we trying to create?"

Organisations that treat this simply as another compliance exercise may meet the minimum standard. Those that use it as an opportunity to strengthen workplace culture are likely to see benefits that extend far beyond the legal requirement.