Written by Ann-Marie Pugh, Solicitor
More than 20 years ago I used to prepare articles and press releases and speak on the radio and TV about the HR issues arising from social events, particularly around the December holiday season.
After 30 years of practising in employment law I’m amazed that I still get asked to advise on the exact same things now, either by the business faced with a colleague accused of inappropriate behaviour or by the harassed individual themselves.
These problems don’t just crop up at annual work parties either, I have dealt with cases at awards ceremonies, conferences and business development events too. The wake up call for employers is that harassment can happen at any time, on-site or off, and during working hours or work events outside of hours.
Sexual harassment complaints hurt everybody involved
A harassment situation is costly and upsetting all round and can result in two individuals (the accuser and the alleged perpetrator) feeling like they have been victimised.
The accuser often feels abused and harassed by the unwelcome conduct from a colleague. They can also feel embarrassed to return to the workplace and fearful of any potential repercussions if they voice their complaints. Serious cases can lead to long term illness and lost productivity.
The alleged perpetrator feels wrongly accused and common excuses often include ‘it’s so out of character for me’, ‘I can’t imagine I did what they say I’ve done’ and ‘everyone was drunk so how can their recollections be reliable’. Feelings of devastation can follow when they realise they have placed a solid career and previously untarnished reputation at risk.
Drawing the line on sexual harassment
The employee view may be that tightening sexual harassment law is just the fun police cancelling normal jovial conduct between colleagues, but the reality of a complaint is a lot more serious.
The rules and the advice are simple…a works outing, event or occasion, within or outside of normal working hours, is still work. Those people are colleagues and not mates, and a line should be drawn on acceptable behaviour and strictly adhered to.
Alcohol is not an excuse either, in fact it’s a nail in the perpetrator’s coffin. If they can’t remember what happened clearly, then they’ve failed to adhere to expected standards of behaviour and can’t defend themself against the allegations with any legitimacy.
Internal pressures and personal stresses are also irrelevant in these cases. It doesn’t matter if the behaviour was out of character or if you were just ‘letting your hair down’ or ‘blowing off some steam’. These arguments won’t get a harasser out of hot water and the stakes for employers are just too high to turn a blind eye or make an exception. And in any event, why should they?
Times have moved on and all colleagues can expect to be treated with dignity and that commonly accepted boundaries will be respected at work.
An employer’s responsibility
Employers are required to take steps to prevent harassment of colleagues and one of those steps includes clearly communicating the organisations expectations and policy on sexual harassment.
I would say this needs to be done loudly and regularly and specifically in relation to high risk situations. Any perpetrator who ignores the steps put in place to prevent harassment can be dismissed if they fail to take control of themselves.
Whether or not the perpetrator is dismissed, the employer remains in a delicate position with the accuser. The employer has a high bar to reach to defend itself from being responsible for the perpetrator’s behaviour.
Taking practical steps to assess and manage the risks is crucial, as is handling the situation properly and compassionately to reduce the fall out of a complaint for both parties.
Where UK law stands on sexual harassment
In October 2024, the Worker Protection Act introduced a positive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. The Employment Rights Act 2025 has raised the bar in this area again by introducing two further changes.
The first was to reinstate employer liability for third-party harassment. If your employees are harassed by customers, clients, contractors, or members of the public, your business can now be held liable, even though you didn’t employ the harasser. This change extends employer duty to anyone who comes into contact with your staff while they work, not just your other employees.
The second is a potential compensation uplift of up to 25% where a tribunal finds the employer failed to take reasonable preventative steps in the workplace. On a harassment award of £40,000, that is an additional £10,000.
Businesses with public facing workers
Legislation on sexual harassment applies to all businesses in the UK, but those with customer-facing or public-facing workers should be extra vigilant on policy in this area.
For workplaces like pubs, hospital wards, doctor’s surgeries, call centres and retail stores, the combination of third-party liability and the compensation uplift requires a specific and direct policy update.
My advice on compliance
Act quickly and repeat the message often to keep the standards expected front of mind, until we genuinely have a culture where unacceptable behaviour is the exception and people don’t need to instruct me to advise them on the consequences.
A commercially sensible approach would be a harassment prevention package that covers a risk assessment, policy review and training that’s delivered once a year, and clearly documented in a way that would satisfy a tribunal.
If 2024 was the last time you updated your harassment arrangements then I’d recommend looking at them again now, not only to minimise the risk of a future claim, but also to encourage a more respectful culture between work colleagues.
If you need advice or support on anything mentioned in this article contact Ann-Marie on 0121 321 3333.