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Sexual Harassment Prevention for Managers
A CPD-certified online course for managers, HR professionals and business owners. Understand the Worker Protection Act duty and the strengthened requirements from October 2026, build a defensible prevention framework — risk assessments, policies, reporting and training — and learn to handle disclosures and complaints properly. Fully online, at your own pace.
About this course
The duty is on the employer — and managers carry it
Since October 2024, every UK employer has been under a proactive legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers. From October 2026 that duty strengthens to taking all reasonable steps — and employers become liable for harassment of their staff by third parties such as customers, clients and contractors. Employment tribunals can uplift compensation by up to 25% where the duty is breached, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission can take enforcement action without waiting for an individual claim.
When a claim arrives, the questions a tribunal asks are ones managers must be able to answer: Where is your risk assessment? What does your policy say? How were staff trained, and when was that training refreshed? How was the complaint handled? What did you do to protect staff from customers? This course works through each of those questions in turn, using the EHRC’s guidance on preventing sexual harassment as its backbone.
Fully online and self-paced, the course takes around three to four hours and is accessed for twelve months from enrolment. On passing the end-of-course assessment, a CPD-certified digital certificate is issued instantly. Pair it with our all-staff Sexual Harassment Prevention course for a complete, documented workforce rollout.
What you’ll learn
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course you will be able to:
Explain the employer’s preventative duty under the Worker Protection Act and how it strengthens in October 2026.
Understand liability for third-party harassment and what it means for customer-facing businesses.
Carry out and document a sexual harassment risk assessment for your workplace.
Put in place an effective anti-harassment policy with clear, trusted reporting channels.
Respond correctly to a disclosure — supporting the worker, preserving fairness and managing confidentiality.
Run a fair, prompt complaints and investigation process, and avoid victimisation pitfalls.
Take practical steps to protect staff from customers, clients and contractors, including at events.
Build the documentation trail — training records, refreshers, monitoring — that evidences “all reasonable steps”.
Course content
Eight modules — 3 to 4 hours of learning
Each module ends with a knowledge check. Work through the modules in any order and return to the content at any time during your twelve-month access window.
1The Legal FrameworkFrom the Equality Act 2010 to the Worker Protection Act’s proactive duty.⌄
- Sexual harassment under the Equality Act 2010
- The Worker Protection Act 2023 and the preventative duty
- The 25% compensation uplift and how tribunals apply it
- EHRC enforcement powers and what triggers them
- Employer liability for the acts of employees
2October 2026: What Changes and Why It Matters“All reasonable steps”, third-party liability, and the compliance gap to close now.⌄
- From “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps” — the higher bar
- Liability for harassment by customers, clients, contractors and visitors
- Which sectors are most exposed — hospitality, events, retail, transport
- How tribunals are likely to test the strengthened duty
- Planning your organisation’s route to compliance
3Recognising Sexual Harassment at WorkThe behaviours, the grey areas, and the cultures that let them grow.⌄
- Unwanted conduct of a sexual nature — verbal, physical, written and online
- Why the recipient’s experience matters more than intent
- Power imbalances, “banter” cultures and warning signs
- Work socials, alcohol and off-site conduct
- Patterns managers commonly miss
4The Sexual Harassment Risk AssessmentThe foundation of “all reasonable steps” — assessing and documenting your risks.⌄
- Why the EHRC expects a specific sexual harassment risk assessment
- Identifying risk factors: lone working, night work, alcohol, customer contact, power imbalance
- Assessing third-party risk by role and location
- Control measures and an action plan
- Recording, reviewing and updating the assessment
5Policies, Procedures and Reporting ChannelsAn anti-harassment policy that works in practice, not just on paper.⌄
- What a compliant anti-harassment policy must cover
- Reporting routes staff actually trust — including anonymous options
- Communicating the policy so every worker knows it
- Contractors, agency staff and the extended workforce
- Reviewing effectiveness rather than filing and forgetting
6Handling Disclosures and ComplaintsResponding properly in the moment and running a fair process afterwards.⌄
- Receiving a disclosure well: listening, recording, not promising outcomes
- Informal resolution vs formal investigation — choosing the right route
- Running a prompt, fair and confidential investigation
- Supporting both complainant and accused during the process
- Victimisation: the mistakes that create a second claim
7Protecting Staff from Third PartiesPractical measures for customers, clients, contractors and events.⌄
- The new liability and what “all reasonable steps” looks like for third parties
- Customer-facing controls: signage, codes of conduct, refusal and barring policies
- Protecting lone workers, night staff and off-site workers
- Events, functions and hospitality-specific risks
- Responding to and recording third-party incidents
8Evidencing ComplianceThe documentation trail that stands up at tribunal.⌄
- What tribunals and the EHRC ask to see
- Training records: who, what, when — and refresher cycles
- Monitoring: surveys, exit interviews, complaint data
- Acting on what monitoring tells you
- Building your organisation’s compliance file
Is this course right for you?
Who should take this course?
This course is for anyone who carries responsibility for preventing harassment or responding when it is reported.
Line managers & supervisors
Anyone who manages people and may receive a disclosure or witness an incident.
HR professionals
Those responsible for policy, investigations and training records.
Business owners & directors
The people ultimately accountable for the duty — and the tribunal claim.
Hospitality & venue managers
GMs, duty managers and events managers facing the highest third-party risk.
Health & safety leads
Those adding sexual harassment to the organisation’s risk assessment framework.
Designated safeguarding contacts
Named contacts who handle reports and coordinate support.
How you’ll be assessed
Assessment
The course is assessed by a single online multiple-choice test taken at the end of the modules. It can be retaken as many times as you need at no extra cost.
End-of-course assessment
Study details
You can pause and resume at any point — your progress is saved automatically. There is no time limit on the assessment itself.
Your certificate
CPD-certified digital certificate
Sexual Harassment Prevention for Managers — CPD Certified
On passing the assessment, your CPD-certified digital certificate is available to download and print immediately, with your name, the course title and completion date. Manager-level training is one of the specific steps the EHRC guidance highlights, so this certificate forms a key part of your organisation’s “all reasonable steps” evidence file. We recommend annual refresher training so that evidence stays current.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Is this legal advice?⌄
We already did harassment training in 2024 — do we need this?⌄
Does this cover harassment by customers?⌄
How long does it take and how long do I have access?⌄
Can I train my managers and my wider team together?⌄
What other training do hospitality teams need?⌄
Ready to enrol?
Get ahead of the October 2026 changes. Fully online, self-paced, with your CPD-certified certificate issued instantly on completion.
