Your Managers Were Supposed to Be Trained for This

The new duty to prevent sexual harassment: your real risk sits with managers

Picture this. A manager in a corridor at four in the afternoon. Four seconds to decide what to say. Two people watching to see if she says anything at all. That is where the new duty to prevent sexual harassment lands. Not on your desk. Right there, in real time.

Owners often think the HR risk lives with them because they sign things. It does not. It sits one layer down, with people who make quick calls all day. From 26 October 2024, the legal bar rises. The new duty to prevent sexual harassment asks you to take reasonable steps, then prove you did.

So let’s jump straight in.

Why the risk sits with managers, not with you

What does a line manager decide in a normal week? Who gets the good shift. If a comment was a joke or a problem. If anything gets written down. How to respond to “can I tell you something, but please keep it between us”. If the person struggling is being difficult or unwell. If a talk happens now or in a fortnight.

Each choice is a legal decision wearing ordinary clothes. Under the new duty to prevent sexual harassment, those calls must be better, faster, and recorded. Your defence lives in what your managers did and what you can show.

Quick reality check:

• Time limits for Equality Act claims generally remain three months less one day, with extensions only in limited cases.
• There is no separate third party liability in the new Act. You still need to protect staff from customers and the public, because doing so is part of taking reasonable steps.
• Tribunals can uplift compensation by up to 25% if you breach the new duty. That is a straight cost.

Source: Worker Protection Act 2023 on legislation.gov.uk and ACAS guidance.

The new duty to prevent sexual harassment, in plain English

Here’s the heart of it:

• From 26 October 2024, employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees.
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission is expected to enforce through guidance and action, and tribunals can uplift awards.
• This is a “show me” duty. Not intentions. Evidence.

Why this matters to SMEs:

• Most incidents surface to a manager first.
• The right 30 seconds, backed by training and notes, can save your business time, money, and culture.
• Training is an obvious reasonable step. So is having a live policy, briefings, and records.

Useful stat: A 2023 TUC poll found 3 in 5 women reported sexual harassment at work. That is a lot of corridors and a lot of four second moments. Source: TUC.

Suggested expert quote source: ACAS adviser or an EHRC policy lead to comment on “reasonable steps” expectations.

Seven things managers must be able to do by Monday

Not topics. Skills. Actions your managers can use in the next shift.

1. Know what “reasonable steps” asks of them, personally
   Plain English, in the moment. What to say, who to tell, what to write, and how fast.

2. Tell banter from harassment, quickly, with people watching
   The line is not where the joke-teller thinks it is. Managers need a four second test and a stock phrase that resets the room without losing the team.

3. Deal with a customer who crosses the line
   Your team should never have to “ride it out”. Managers need clear permission to intervene and a method to protect staff and the relationship.

4. Write a note that still makes sense in six months
   What to capture, when, and the exact words to use. Most cases are lost on missing notes, not missing facts.

5. Start the hard conversation they have put off since June
   Open well, stay on behaviour, keep it fair. Know what to do if the other person cries, gets angry, or goes quiet.

6. Tell “can’t do it” from “won’t do it”
   Capability versus conduct. Get it right at the start, and health flags are handled with care to avoid discrimination risk.

7. Run a probation review that is worth the time
   Short service does not mean no risk. Use a tight plan, clear goals, real feedback, and evidence.

Read that list again. Not one policy. All people. All skills.

Why most manager training did not stick

I have sat through too many “full day, forty slides” sessions. By three o’clock, everyone is fried. The PDF never gets opened. Three things usually go wrong:

• It is too long
  Small businesses can protect an hour. A full day gets cancelled, twice, then ignored.

• It is too general
  “Managing difficult conversations” is a heading. Thursday’s talk with a named person is the help they need.

• It leaves nothing behind
  If your manager cannot walk out with a tool they will use, it was entertainment. If you cannot prove who attended, when, and what they learned, it does not help you meet the duty to prevent sexual harassment.

Doing the training is a reasonable step. Being able to prove it is your defence.

What to buy instead, if you buy training

Ask one question: What will my managers be able to do on Monday that they could not do on Friday?

If the answer is a list of topics, that is a lecture. If the answer is “have the talk, using the planner they filled in”, that is training.

Look for three practical features:

• One hour at a time, little and often
  Adults remember more this way, and you can actually keep it in the diary.

• A real tool after every session
  Harassment risk assessment, informal concern record, third party incident log, meeting note template. Branded for your business, ready to use.

• Written evidence for the business
  A training confirmation on letterhead showing who attended what, when, and scores. Independent, clear, and ready to show a tribunal if needed.

Timing without the drama

No gimmicks here. The duty to prevent sexual harassment starts on 26 October 2024. If your managers are trained before that date, you have a stronger story to tell and better protection for your team. “We trained in October, here is the letter” lands better than “we trained in January”.

Where we come in

This is why we built Cake, Coffee and Compliance. Yes, that is the name. Because manager training should be useful, human, and you should get a biscuit.

• One-hour sessions, Tuesday mornings.
• Each ends with a working document your manager can use that day.
• After each block, you get a Training Confirmation letter listing attendance, dates, and scores.

Check the next start dates and the full programme here: Cake, Coffee and Compliance for managers https://kateunderwoodhr.co.uk/managers

Not sure where your weak spot is? Start with the free HR Health Check. It takes five minutes and gives you a red, amber, green view so you can focus on the highest risk first. Try it here: Free HR Health Check https://kateunderwoodhr.co.uk/hr-health-check

As we wrap up, hold this in your head over the weekend. Someone in your business will have four seconds to decide what to say. Have they been told what to do with them?

Until next time, keep buzzing and take care of your people. Kettle on, standards up.

FAQs

• What is the new duty to prevent sexual harassment?
  It is a legal duty from 26 October 2024 requiring employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees. Tribunals can uplift awards if you breach it.

• What counts as “reasonable steps” under the duty?
  Live policies, regular training, manager briefings, visible leadership, easy reporting routes, prompt action, and records you can show.

• Does the duty include harassment by customers or the public?
  There is no separate third party liability in the Act. You are still expected to protect staff from third party behaviour as part of taking reasonable steps.

• How often should we train managers?
  Short, regular refreshers work best. Aim for an initial session, then top-ups at least every 12 months, sooner if there is an incident or policy update.

• What records should we keep to support our defence?
  Attendance lists, dates, content outlines, test scores, copies of tools issued, policy versions, and incident logs with prompt actions.

• Where can I read official guidance?
  ACAS has practical advice for employers, and the EHRC technical guidance explains expectations. See links below.

Sources and further reading:

• ACAS guidance, Sexual harassment at work: https://www.acas.org.uk/sexual-harassment
• Equality and Human Rights Commission technical guidance: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/sexual-harassment-and-harassment-work-technical-guidance
• Worker Protection Act 2023, legislation.gov.uk: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/53/contents
• TUC 2023 poll on harassment: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/3-5-women-sexually-harassed-work-new-tuc-commission-finds