Insight · Social Care
Your carers work alone in people's homes and give personal care. The law now expects you to plan for harassment by the people you support, and their families.
Published 21 October 2026
Key points
Since 26 October 2024, section 40A of the Equality Act 2010 has said employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 makes three changes. They all come into force on 30 October 2026, under the commencement regulations (SI 2026/1065):
Watch for any regulations under section 22. If they are made, they will add detail to what you must do.
The new law defines a third party as anyone other than the employer or its employees. Acas says a third party could be anyone a worker is in contact with through work, and lists clients and service users as examples.
In home care and care homes, that means the people you support, their families and friends, visitors, and other professionals who come into contact with your staff.
Yes, the third-party part does. The new rule says an employer must not "permit a third party to harass" an employee. Under section 26 of the Equality Act, harassment includes unwanted conduct related to age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, as well as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature.
So racist comments from a client towards a carer are covered, as well as sexual comments or touching.
The duty to prevent (section 40A) is about sexual harassment only. You can protect staff from both with one plan.
Acas says taking all reasonable steps "means doing what is possible with the available resources". Some steps will not be possible for every organisation. What is expected depends on your size, your sector and the kind of work your staff do.
Acas also says the focus should be on preventing harassment, not only reacting when it happens. It advises recording why you decided a step was not reasonable.
The EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) has an 8-step guide for employers: a policy, engaging staff, assessing and reducing risk, reporting, training, dealing with complaints, dealing with harassment by third parties, and monitoring. Its guidance was last updated in September 2024. The EHRC says it is updating it for the 2026 changes.
Acas gives examples of steps for higher-risk settings, such as more staff, personal alarms and body cameras for workers in vulnerable positions. Care has many of the risks those steps are designed for: lone visits, personal care, and work in private homes at night.
In care, harassment often comes from someone with dementia, a brain injury or another condition. The legal test for harassment looks at the "purpose or effect" of the conduct. A tribunal must take into account the worker's view, the circumstances, and whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect. So the client's intention is not the only question.
Our view: a health condition may explain behaviour, but it does not remove your duty to protect staff. The aim is a plan that keeps carers safe and keeps the person's care going, not to blame the person you support.
These steps come from the Acas and EHRC guidance. The care examples in brackets are our suggestions.
From 30 October 2026, an employee harassed by a third party can bring a tribunal claim against you if you did not take all reasonable steps to prevent it.
If a tribunal awards compensation for sexual harassment and finds you breached the prevention duty, it can increase the award by up to 25% (section 124A).
The EHRC can also take action on the prevention duty, even when no harassment has happened. It can investigate, issue an unlawful act notice, make a binding agreement with you, or go to court.
Yes. The duty applies to all employers, whatever their size. Acas says the steps that are reasonable depend on things like the size of the organisation, the sector and the type of work, so a small agency is not expected to do everything a large group would. It is still expected to do what is possible with the resources it has.
It can. From 30 October 2026, an employer is liable for harassment of an employee by a third party if it failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. Whether conduct counts as harassment depends on the legal test, which looks at its purpose or effect, the worker's perception, the circumstances and whether it is reasonable for it to have that effect. There is no tribunal case law yet on the new third-party rule, so plan carefully and record your reasons.
The law does not say you must have a separate policy. Acas and the EHRC both expect a clear policy, and the EHRC expects your policy to cover harassment by third parties and what you will do about it. Many care providers add a section on clients, residents, families and visitors to their existing anti-harassment policy and their service user guide.
Acas says all reasonable steps includes protecting workers from online and in-person sexual harassment. In care that can include messages or calls from clients or family members to a carer's phone.
All sources checked October 2026.
Our Harassment Prevention Kits start at £149, and the Care Add-On (£199) adds client risk assessments, letters to families and commissioners, and a lone-working protocol. We also run live online training for care staff (£495) and care managers (£595), with a certificate for each person.
See kits and training