Harassment

Unwanted conduct that violates dignity or poisons the working environment — judged by its effect, not by what anyone claims they meant. What the law covers, and how employers become liable.

What counts as harassment at work in law?

Under s.26 of the Equality Act 2010, unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating your dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. It also separately covers sexual harassment — unwanted conduct of a sexual nature — and less favourable treatment for rejecting or submitting to such conduct.

Does one incident count, or does it have to be a pattern?

A single incident can be harassment if it is serious enough — one slur, one grope, one humiliating tirade. Patterns matter to severity and compensation, but the law does not require repetition before conduct qualifies.

My colleague says it was banter. Does that matter?

Intent is not decisive. Conduct without a harassing purpose can still qualify by its effect, judged by your perception, the circumstances, and whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect. The reasonableness filter stops purely hypersensitive claims, but tribunals have little patience for the banter defence where the conduct was demeaning.

Is my employer responsible for what a colleague did?

Generally yes. Employers are liable for harassment by employees in the course of employment unless they show they took all reasonable steps to prevent it. Since 26 October 2024 employers have also been under a proactive duty, from the Worker Protection Act 2023, to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment — and tribunals can uplift compensation by up to 25% where that duty was breached.

What about harassment by customers or clients?

Protections here have been strengthened under the Employment Rights Act 2025, building on the preventative duty. If third parties are harassing you at work, report it in writing and keep the record — what your employer knew and did about it is central to any claim.

What can a tribunal award for harassment?

Compensation is uncapped and includes injury to feelings under the Vento bands — for 2026/27: lower band £1,300 to £12,600, middle £12,600 to £37,700, upper £37,700 to £62,900, exceptional cases above — plus financial losses if the harassment cost you your job or health, interest, and in sexual harassment cases the possible 25% uplift for a breached preventative duty.

Employment Tribunal · Glossary

Unwanted conduct that violates dignity or poisons the working environment — judged by its effect, not by what anyone claims they meant. What the law covers, and how employers become liable.

Last reviewed: August 2026

Employment Tribunal track

, under s.26 of the Equality Act 2010, is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic — or of a sexual nature — that has the

of violating someone's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Where this comes from

Equality Act 2010, s.26

— the three forms of harassment.

Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023

— the duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

EHRC guidance on harassment at work

— technical guidance tribunals take into account.

Three forms, one section

Section 26 contains three distinct claims. The first is harassment

related to a protected characteristic

— race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment. The conduct need not be aimed at the claimant's own characteristic: “related to” is wide enough to catch offensive remarks about a group the claimant does not belong to. The second is

: unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, from comments and messages to touching. The third covers

less favourable treatment

of someone because they rejected — or submitted to — sexual harassment or sex-related harassment.

The engine of all three is the

test. Conduct intended to demean qualifies however the victim shrugged it off; conduct with no such intention still qualifies if it had that effect, judged through the claimant's perception, the circumstances, and whether it was reasonable for the conduct to have that effect. That last filter is where the “banter” defence goes to die: what matters is not the office culture the perpetrator claims, but whether a reasonable person in the claimant's position could experience the environment as hostile or degrading.

• Individuals can be personally liable for their own acts of harassment, and can be named as respondents alongside the employer.
• The employer, for its people.
• Employers are liable for harassment done by employees in the course of employment — which extends to work socials and messages between colleagues — unless they show they took all reasonable steps to prevent it. A dusty policy nobody was trained on rarely clears that bar.
• The employer, proactively.
• Since 26 October 2024, the Worker Protection Act 2023 requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment before it happens. Breach lets a tribunal uplift compensation by up to 25%.
• Where customers, clients or patients are the source, protections have been strengthened under the Employment Rights Act 2025. What the employer knew, and what it did next, is the heart of these cases.

How it works in practice

A warehouse worker's team leader mocks his stammer in the morning briefing, imitates him on the radio channel, and encourages others to join in. It runs for three months. He records each incident in his phone with dates and witnesses, raises a written grievance, and the employer's response is to move

mockery related to disability

degrading, humiliating environment

Employer's prevention steps

s.26 harassment v employer and team leader

He notifies ACAS within the time limit, pausing the clock. The tribunal finds the conduct related to disability, rejects the “workplace humour” explanation, and awards injury to feelings in the middle Vento band together with interest — the grievance response having made matters worse, not better.

Deadlines and remedies

The tribunal time limit follows the discrimination rules: for acts before 1 October 2026, three months less one day, paused during

; for acts on or after 1 October 2026, six months under the Employment Rights Act 2025 — with earlier acts staying on the three-month clock. A campaign of harassment will often count as conduct extending over a period, so time runs from its last act, but the safe course is always to treat the earliest deadline as real. Compensation is uncapped: injury to feelings under the

— for 2026/27, lower band £1,300 to £12,600, middle £12,600 to £37,700, upper £37,700 to £62,900, exceptional cases above — plus financial losses, interest, and the possible 25% uplift where the sexual harassment preventative duty was breached.

• Not recording as you go.
• Harassment cases are built from specifics: dates, words used, who was present, how it affected you. A contemporaneous log beats a general account written months later.
• Assuming the grievance stops the clock.
• It does not. Raise the
• and start ACAS Early Conciliation in parallel if the deadline is approaching.
• Framing harassment as direct discrimination.
• Harassment needs no comparator — that is one of its advantages. Where conduct violates dignity, s.26 is usually the cleaner claim than
• , and claims are often pleaded in the alternative.
• Accepting “it was not meant that way”.
• Purpose is only one route. The effect limb exists precisely because impact does not need intent.
• Resigning without the record.
• If the environment forces you out, the same evidence may support constructive dismissal alongside harassment — but only if the reports, responses and timeline were captured while it was happening.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• Equality Act 2010, s.26
• (legislation.gov.uk)
• Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023
• Sexual harassment and harassment at work
• (equalityhumanrights.com)
• Discrimination, bullying and harassment
• Workplace bullying and harassment

Working in an environment that has turned hostile?

Start My Claim helps you keep the record, meet the deadlines and build the claim yourself.

Last reviewed: August 2026.

References checked against the Equality Act 2010, the Worker Protection Act 2023 and the 2026/27 Vento Presidential Guidance as in force on 24 August 2026.

This page is explanatory only and is not legal advice. Start My Claim is self-service software, not a law firm — its tools help you build and run your own case.