Protecting staff from sexual harassment: guidance and risk assessment

Employers have a legal duty to protect staff from sexual harassment. Use our resources to help you take action in preventing this unwanted behaviour.

Last reviewed on 5 November 2026See updates

School types: All•School phases: All•Ref: 49799

Contents

Employers must take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment against staff
You must show you took 'all reasonable steps' to prevent sexual harassment
Anticipate where it might happen
Train staff on calling it out
Develop and review clear policies to protect staff

Employers must take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment against staff

Harassment is defined as:

Unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual

Sexual harassment is defined as:

Unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. This includes verbal or written harassment, as well as physical harassment such as touching

This is set out in the Equality Act 2010.

Employers must:

Take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent sexual harassment
Not permit any type of harassment of their employees by third parties (e.g. a visitor to your school site) – this means employers are liable for harassment from third parties unless they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent it from happening

Read more in the factsheet 'preventing workplace sexual