Workplace concerns about sexual harassment have risen sharply this year, with new figures showing a significant increase in calls for help and advice as employers face far stricter legal duties to prevent abuse and misconduct.
Data obtained by employment law firm Nockolds shows there were 5,583 enquiries about sexual harassment in the first half of 2025, up by nearly 40 percent compared to the same period last year. The figures are based on calls to the Acas helpline, the national service run by the government to provide impartial advice and dispute resolution for workplace issues.
Nockolds links the increase to the introduction of the Workers Protection Act 2023, which came into force last October. The new law requires employers to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment, moving beyond the previous approach where companies only acted in response to complaints.
“The new preventative duty has pushed sexual harassment to the top of the workplace risk agenda,” said Rachel Davis, principal associate at Nockolds. “With helpline calls up nearly 40 percent year‑on‑year, the message is clear: awareness is rising, but so is uncertainty about what compliance really looks like.”
Legal duties, penalties and prevention
Under the new law, employers must demonstrate that prevention is fully embedded in their culture, policies and daily practice. Failure to comply can result in compensation awards being increased by up to 25 percent, with individual cases seeing uplifts of tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds.
“Many employers are seeking guidance post-implementation of the new duty, likely in response to internal audits or external complaints,” said Davis. “Historically, sexual harassment policies were often generic and rarely enforced unless a complaint was made. Moving from a reactive to an initiative-taking posture is a major cultural step-change for many organisations. Tick-box training and vague reporting channels no longer meet the required legal standard.”
She added that the “organisations that act now to embed prevention into governance, culture, and day‑to‑day practice will be the ones best placed to navigate the higher expectations — and higher stakes — of this new and evolving compliance landscape”.
High-profile cases fuel public scrutiny
Recent media attention has also increased public awareness and encouraged staff to speak out. High-profile investigations and leadership changes at major companies such as Nestlé, McDonald’s and BP have shown the risks of inappropriate relationships, abuse of power and the consequences of failing to maintain proper workplace standards.
Davis noted that incidents in the public eye — even those not involving harassment allegations — can embolden employees to raise concerns about professional boundaries and leadership behaviour.
Legal precedent is also shaping employer responses. The Campbell v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust case (2025) showed that organisations can avoid liability if they prove they took “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment, a standard that now applies to sexual harassment claims as well as other forms of discrimination.
“This case shows that tribunals will now scrutinise not just what employers say they stand for, but what they actually do. Posters and policies are not enough — training must be regular, values must be embedded and accountability must be visible,” Davis said.
New bill expands compliance demands
The forthcoming Employment Rights Bill is set to expand these obligations even further, and employers will soon be required to show that they have taken “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment, a threshold that is expected to be interpreted more stringently. The new law will also hold employers responsible for harassment carried out by customers, clients or contractors, posing particular challenges for public-facing industries such as retail, hospitality and healthcare.
“The Employment Rights Bill will significantly raise the compliance bar for employers. It’s no longer about doing something reasonable; it’s about doing everything that could reasonably be expected,” said Davis.
“Tribunals are likely to interpret ‘all reasonable steps’ as a demand for systematic, sustained, and evidenced prevention. For sectors like hospitality and retail, already grappling with rising National Insurance and minimum wage costs, this added burden could push marginal businesses beyond viability.”
As scrutiny, risk and legal standards all rise, experts say employers who fail to move beyond token policies or minimal training could face not just financial penalties, but reputational harm in a climate of growing employee expectations and public accountability.
