Are you fully up to date on workplace sexual harassment laws and regulations and confident you are compliant?
We understand that ensuring compliance with different laws and regulations can feel overwhelming at times, and finding the right courses to meet your needs can often feel confusing.
Founded in 2008, SARSAS is an accredited rape crisis centre that supports thousands of survivors of rape and sexual abuse each year, helping them rebuild their lives after trauma.
Our vision is a world without sexual violence, which is why we offer specialist training in a variety of topics. Our expert knowledge and trauma-informed approach can help you to approach this sensitive but important issue with confidence.
That’s why we’ve put together a handy guide of the laws and regulations that cover sexual violence at work, and which of our training courses can help you to comply.
Worker Protection Act 2023
The Worker Protection Act 2023, which came into effect in October 2024, states that employers have a legal duty to prevent sexual harassment of their workers. Sexual harassment is any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature.
The law states that employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers in the course of their employment. It also requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers by third parties, such as clients, customers and contractors.
If an employment tribunal considers the employer has breached their preventative duty, it can increase compensation awarded by up to 25%.
SARSAS training courses to help you comply:
Employment Rights Act 2025
This law expands on the Worker Protection Act 2023 and states that employers have an elevated duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, with guidance from the government expected in 2027.
From October 2026, employers will become liable for harassment committed by third parties, such as clients, customers and contractors, against their employees.
This law also introduces that any disclosure related to sexual harassment automatically qualifies as a “protected disclosure”, affording full whistleblowing legal protection to the reporting employee.
SARSAS training courses to help you comply:
Financial Conduct Authority Non-Financial Misconduct (NFM) rules
From 1 September 2026, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is expanding how it treats non-financial misconduct (NFM) and is aligning rules for banks and non-banks.
NFM is any misconduct that is not financial in nature. The FCA’s guidance covers bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, and violence but isn’t limited to those behaviours.
One key takeaway of the new rules is that serious NFM can trigger a breach for a wider range of non-bank firms and individuals. Additionally, misconduct does not need to relate to a protected characteristic (unlike harassment outlined in the Equality Act 2010), so the potential scope is wider than the law relating to discrimination.
SARSAS training courses to help you comply:
Are you confident your training is enough to keep you compliant?
Explore our training offer here or get in touch with us at training@sarsas.org.uk.
We’d be happy to talk things through and explore how we can tailor our standard courses, including delivery, length and content, to suit your audience and unique needs.
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Are your staff prepared to respond to sexual harassment and abuse, support disclosures, and have confident conversations about sensitive topics?
We understand that ensuring compliance with different laws and regulations can feel overwhelming at times, and finding the right courses to meet your needs can often feel confusing.
