October 2026 employment law changes – three things you need to know…

1. Employees will have longer to bring claims

From 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing Employment Tribunal claims will be extended from three to six months for most claims.

The change gives employees an extended window to pursue claims, which will, no doubt, place the already creaking Employment Tribunal system under yet further pressure.

The usual requirement to complete the pre-claim Acas early conciliation process – and associated ‘stopping of the clock’ - will continue to apply.

Considering that process can now run for up to 12 weeks (having been extended from 6 weeks in December 2025) – the total period between the underlying event and the deadline for issuing proceedings could, in some cases, last almost nine months.

One potential elephant trap: the new six month period generally only relates to acts/omissions occurring on or after 1 October 2026.  The position for claims arising from earlier events, therefore, needs to be considered carefully - particularly where the applicable limitation period has already started running before 1 October 2026.

For employers - keeping clear, contemporaneous, written records of relevant meetings and decisions will remain crucial, as the time-lag between the event and having to explain and/or justify it could well increase further.

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2. A further strengthening of anti-harassment laws

With effect from 30 October 2026, the following changes will be introduced:
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Tweak to existing ‘preventative duty’ in relation to sexual harassment

The existing ‘preventative duty’, introduced in October 2024, which requires employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, will change to require employers to take “all reasonable steps”.

The wording mirrors the existing ‘all reasonable steps’ defence in s.109(4) Equality Act 2010.

In practice, that means where sexual harassment is found to have occurred, unless an employer can demonstrate it took ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent it:

• it may be liable for compensation calculated according to usual principles; plus
• a potential uplift of up to 25% for failure to comply with the ‘preventative duty’.
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Introduction of new liability for third-party harassment

Additionally, s.21 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 will amend s.40 of the Equality Act 2010 so as to reintroduce employer liability for third-party harassment in relation to certain relevant protected characteristics where both:

• the third-party harasses the employee in the course of their employment; and
• the employer fails to take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent the third-party from doing so.

So, in addition to an employer being prohibited from harassing its own employees, it will also have potential liability where it has failed to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent harassment by a third-party.

That is a significant change.

The new provision is particularly relevant to employers whose employees regularly interact with contractors, clients, customers, service users, guests and/or members of the public. If an employee is harassed by a third-party in the course of their employment, the employer may be held liable if it has failed to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent it.
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What is harassment?

It’s certainly worth being clear what we mean by this.

To recap, this is unwanted conduct related to a ‘protected characteristic’ or conduct of a ‘sexual nature’ which has the purpose or effect of either:

• violating a person’s dignity; or
• creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

The relevant ‘protected characteristics’ for these purposes are: age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

In deciding whether conduct had the required effect the Tribunal will consider:

• the claimant’s perception;
• the full circumstances of the matter; and
• whether it is reasonable for conduct to have had that effect

It is mainly perception-based – so, it’s not how it’s thrown but how it lands that counts.

Context is key, and it must be reasonable for the conduct to have had that effect.
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What does ‘all reasonable steps’ mean?

In relation to the duty to prevent sexual harassment, we are awaiting further guidance.

Although the change takes effect on 30 October 2026, somewhat unhelpfully, the Government’s regulations specifying the particular steps that will be regarded as ‘reasonable’ are currently expected to follow in 2027/28, following consultation.

Whilst there’s a bit of a delay in obtaining total clarity, the following steps should certainly be taken:

• carrying out effective risk assessments – that really drill down into identifying and mitigating real-life, practical risks;
• rolling out effective training that squarely addresses the issue (and is repeated at regular intervals);
• having effective policies and procedures in place that:
  
  • are widely accessible and known - visibility and prevention go hand-in-hand;
  • contain clear and effective reporting channels - so everyone knows how to call out potential issues; and
  • contain effective and appropriate steps relating to investigating and addressingissues.

Additionally, non-statutory guidance is provided by the EHRC’s technical guidance.

Also, in relation to third-party harassment, employers may wish to:

• update policies and procedures to ensure they cover the new third-party obligations;
• review third-party contracts to be clear on expected standards of behaviour and, where appropriate, impose a contractual duty to comply with anti-harassment policies;
• consider providing a short Code of Conduct to those third parties with whom there is regular interaction;
• consider suitable signage in public workplaces and/or those in which third-parties regularly operate;
• identify high-risk roles/environments;
• consider previous incidents involving customers/service users/contractors;
• make sure employees know how and when they may reasonably withdraw from an interaction; and
• ensure managers know what to do when a third-party crosses the line.

It is, of course, a lot trickier for employers to control the actions of third-parties, and it is expected this will be taken into account to some degree when determining such cases.

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3. Trade Unions

A significant package of trade union reforms will come into force on 30 October 2026, which include:

• a new statutory right for independent trade unions to seek physical and/or digital access to workplaces;
• reforms to the recognition and derecognition process;
• enhanced rights and facilities for trade union representatives, and
• stronger protection for workers participating in protected industrial action.

Further changes, including a new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union, will follow later in 2027.

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Comment

So, that’s what’s due in October.  These are certainly major developments, with, of course, more to come in January 2027, with some fairly seismic changes due to unfair dismissal law.

In the meantime, for help in preparing for the above changes, do get in touch.