Harassment at Work: Your Rights and What Counts in Law

Harassment at Work: Your Rights and What Counts in Law

This article applies to England, Wales and Scotland.

Last updated: November 2026

In brief: Harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 when unwanted conduct relates to a protected characteristic, or is sexual, and violates your dignity or creates a hostile environment. Bullying with no such link is not itself a tribunal claim. From 30 October 2026 employers are also liable for harassment by customers and other third parties they failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent. Time limit: six months less one day for acts from 1 October 2026.

Most people who look this up describe what is happening to them as bullying: a manager who singles them out, comments that have gone on for months, being excluded or humiliated in front of colleagues. The law draws a line through that experience that does not match how it feels. Some of it is harassment under the Equality Act, with a tribunal claim and uncapped compensation attached. Some of it is not, and the route to a remedy runs through a grievance, a constructive dismissal claim or the civil courts instead. This guide sets out where the line falls, what changed on 30 October 2026, and what tribunals have actually awarded.

Is what is happening to me harassment in law?

It is harassment in law if three things are true: the conduct was unwanted; it was connected to one of seven protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation) or was sexual in nature; and it either was meant to, or did, violate your dignity or create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for you.

The conduct does not have to be aimed at you because of your own characteristic. A colleague's racist jokes about someone else, or a manager's running commentary on women in general, can be harassment of you if they create that environment. Nor does it have to be repeated: a single serious incident can be enough. And the person did not need to intend it. Conduct that was meant as banter is still harassment if that was its effect.

The statutory wording is in section 26 of the Equality Act 2010:

"A person (A) harasses another (B) if— (a) A engages in unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, and (b) the conduct has the purpose or effect of— (i) violating B's dignity, or (ii) creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for B."

Section 26(2) adds unwanted conduct of a sexual nature with the same purpose or effect, and s.26(3) covers being treated worse because you rejected or went along with sexual conduct.

Where it gets contested is the "effect" limb. The Act says the tribunal must take into account your perception, the other circumstances, and "whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect" (s.26(4)). So how you experienced it matters, but it is not the whole test. The Court of Appeal has said the words in the section are strong ones, and that being upset or offended by a remark does not by itself reach "violating dignity" or an "offensive environment" (Grant v HM Land Registry [2011] EWCA Civ 769). What you may want to consider is whether you can describe the conduct, the link to the characteristic, and the effect on you in specific terms, with dates. Those three things are what the tribunal will test.

What if it is bullying with no link to a protected characteristic?

If the conduct is not sexual and is not related to one of the seven protected characteristics, it is not harassment under the Equality Act, and there is no tribunal claim for bullying as such. That does not mean there is nothing you can do. Depending on the facts, other protections may apply: victimisation if the treatment followed a discrimination complaint, whistleblowing protection if it followed a protected disclosure, constructive dismissal if it forced you to resign, or a civil claim under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 for a sustained course of conduct (six years to bring in England and Wales, three in Scotland). Each has its own test and deadline. Our guide to compensation for bullying at work sets those routes out side by side, and Bullying at tribunal: what cases involving bullying show has the figures.

Can I claim against the person as well as my employer?

Yes. Anything an employee does in the course of their work is treated as also done by the employer, whether or not the employer knew or approved (s.109), and the individual can be named as a respondent in their own right (s.110).

Section 109 gives the employer a statutory defence where it proves it took all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment. Tribunals read that strictly. A policy that exists on paper, or equality training delivered years ago and forgotten, has been held not to be enough (Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen UKEAT/0031/20). If your employer has an anti-harassment policy and you were harassed anyway, that does not get them off; what matters is whether the steps were real, current and effective.

What if it was a customer, client or someone from outside?

For anything that happened on or after 30 October 2026, your employer can be liable for that too. The Employment Rights Act 2025 added a new rule to the Equality Act: an employer must not permit a third party to harass an employee, and it is treated as permitting it where the harassment happened in the course of your work and the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. A third party is anyone who is not your employer or a colleague: customers, clients, patients, contractors, members of the public. It covers every kind of harassment in s.26, not only sexual harassment, and you bring the claim yourself in the tribunal in the ordinary way.

The date matters. Before 30 October 2026 there was no equivalent standalone Equality Act provision in force, so acts before then are not covered by this route, though an employer's own discriminatory response to what an outsider did could still give rise to liability on the ordinary principles (the new wording is in s.40(1A)–(1C) as inserted by the 2025 Act).

Does my employer have to prevent sexual harassment?

Yes, and since 30 October 2026 the duty is to take all reasonable steps, not just reasonable ones (s.40A). You cannot bring a claim for breach of that duty on its own. It bites in a different way: if you win a sexual harassment claim, the tribunal must consider whether your employer breached the duty and, if it did, can increase your compensation by up to 25% (s.124A). The Equality and Human Rights Commission can also enforce it directly. Regulations spelling out what counts as reasonable steps are expected in 2027.

One more change: since 6 April 2026 a disclosure about sexual harassment can qualify for whistleblowing protection, provided the other statutory requirements for a protected disclosure are met, including a reasonable belief that the disclosure is in the public interest.

What should I do while it is happening?

The practical steps do not depend on which route you end up taking, and they are the same ones tribunals look for in the evidence.

1. Keep a dated record of each incident: what was said or done, who was there, how you responded, and the effect on you. Notes made at the time carry weight.
2. Keep the messages. Emails, WhatsApp and Teams messages, and recordings where lawful, are the most common evidence in published harassment judgments.
3. Raise it in writing. A grievance is not a precondition to a claim, but where the Acas Code applies an unreasonable failure to follow it can lead to an adjustment of up to 25% to the relevant compensation, and the grievance record shows the tribunal the employer knew.
4. Note the date of the first and the most recent incident. Where conduct extends over a period, the time limit can run from the end of that period, but separate incidents are not automatically treated as one continuing act, and that is often disputed.
5. Notify Acas early conciliation within the time limit. Doing so pauses the clock, but the calculation can be complex, so do not leave it to the last week.

Our guide to raising a grievance at work covers the first three steps in detail.

How is compensation for harassment assessed?

Compensation in a successful harassment claim has two main parts: financial loss, where the harassment cost you earnings, and injury to feelings for the hurt and distress itself. Neither is capped. Injury to feelings is assessed in the Vento bands, which for claims presented on or after 6 April 2026 are £1,300 to £12,600 (lower), £12,600 to £37,700 (middle) and £37,700 to £62,900 (upper), with the most exceptional cases capable of exceeding £62,900. The upper band is described in the guidance as being for "the most serious cases, such as where there has been a lengthy campaign of discriminatory harassment".

Two adjustments can sit on top. Where the harassment was sexual and the tribunal finds the employer breached its duty to prevent it, the tribunal may increase the compensation by up to 25%, at its discretion and reflecting the extent of the breach. And where the Acas Code applied and the employer unreasonably failed to follow it, the relevant compensation can be adjusted by up to 25%.

Yerty has not yet published harassment-specific award figures. For discrimination awards generally, the median injury to feelings award in published judgments is £9,000, about half of awards sit in the lower band and just under half in the middle, and around 2% reach the upper band; the detail is in Injury to feelings awards: what the tribunal data shows.

Can I be dismissed for complaining?

Your employer must not dismiss you or treat you worse because you made a complaint that alleged a breach of the Equality Act, or supported someone else's. That is victimisation under s.27, a separate claim from the harassment itself with its own injury to feelings award. Two qualifications: the complaint has to allege, expressly or in substance, an Equality Act contravention, so a general complaint about being treated badly may not count; and a dismissal that is genuinely for an unrelated reason is not victimisation just because it came after a complaint. If the complaint concerned sexual harassment, it may also qualify as a protected disclosure. Our guide to victimisation at work covers what you need to show.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as harassment at work under UK law?

Unwanted conduct related to age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, or conduct of a sexual nature, which has the purpose or effect of violating your dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 sets the test, and a single serious incident can be enough.

Is bullying at work illegal?

Not on its own. There is no tribunal claim for bullying as such. Bullying behaviour may also meet the legal test for Equality Act harassment if it is related to a protected characteristic or is sexual. Treatment because you made a protected discrimination complaint may separately amount to victimisation, and conduct that forces you to resign may support a constructive dismissal claim.

Can my employer be liable for harassment by a customer?

Yes, for acts on or after 30 October 2026. An employer must not permit a third party to harass an employee, and is liable where the harassment happened in the course of your work and the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. Before that date there was no equivalent standalone provision in force.

How long do I have to bring a harassment claim?

Six months less one day from the act for acts on or after 1 October 2026, or from the end of the period where conduct extended over a period; for earlier acts the limit is three months less one day. Notifying Acas early conciliation within the limit pauses the clock. A tribunal can extend time where it is just and equitable, but that is a discretion, not a right.

How much compensation do you get for harassment at work?

There is no cap. Awards combine financial loss with injury to feelings, which is assessed in the Vento bands (£1,300 to £62,900 for claims presented from 6 April 2026, with exceptional cases above). In published judgments the median injury to feelings award across discrimination cases generally is £9,000, and most awards fall in the lower or middle band. A successful sexual harassment claim may attract an uplift of up to 25% if the tribunal finds the employer breached its preventative duty.

Do I have to raise a grievance before claiming?

No. A grievance is not a legal precondition to a tribunal claim. But raising one creates a record, gives the employer the chance to act, and where the Acas Code applies an unreasonable failure to follow it can lead to an adjustment of up to 25% to the relevant compensation. The same adjustment can run against you if you skip the process without good reason.

What is the employer's duty to prevent sexual harassment?

Since 26 October 2024 employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees, and from 30 October 2026 the duty is to take all reasonable steps. You cannot sue for breach of the duty by itself. If you win a sexual harassment claim the tribunal must consider the duty and may uplift your compensation by up to 25%.

Sources

• Equality Act 2010, s.26, s.27, s.40, s.40A, s.109, s.110, s.123, s.124A
• Employment Rights Act 2025, ss.20–23 (harassment and whistleblowing) and s.152 and Sch. 12 (time limits)
• Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023
• Employment Rights Act 1996, s.43B, s.47B, s.95
• Protection from Harassment Act 1997
• Government guidance, workplace sexual harassment and third-party harassment (updated 2 November 2026)
• Grant v HM Land Registry [2011] EWCA Civ 769; Pemberton v Inwood [2018] EWCA Civ 564 (the test for "effect")
• Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen UKEAT/0031/20 (the all reasonable steps defence)
• Unite the Union v Nailard [2018] EWCA Civ 1203 (third-party harassment before 30 October 2026)
• Presidential Guidance, Vento bands, Ninth Addendum (30 March 2026)
• Protection from Harassment Act 1997, s.6 (England and Wales limitation) and Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, s.18B
• Yerty tribunal data: injury to feelings awards in published Employment Tribunal judgments 2014–2026 (see the linked findings piece for method)

Yerty research team. Statutory references checked against legislation.gov.uk and the government's 30 October 2026 guidance, November 2026.

Important: This guide provides information about employment law in England, Wales and Scotland. Yerty is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Data describes past cases and cannot predict the outcome of any individual claim. If your case is complex or high-value, consider speaking to a solicitor for advice specific to your circumstances.