Understanding the Latest Law on Sexual Harassment and Whistleblowing

By Jo Seery, Professional Support Lawyer

This latest in our series of briefings about the Employment Rights Act 2025 focuses on the amendments which adds sexual harassment as a qualifying disclosure under the provisions which provide protection for workers who blow the whistle. 

Current position  

The Employment Rights Act 1996 provides protection from day one for workers who disclose malpractice in the workplace. The disclosure must be a qualifying disclosure (blowing the whistle), which the worker reasonably believes is in the public interest. A qualifying disclosure includes.  

1. A criminal offence, for example, an assault. 
2. Breach of a legal obligation, such as a breach of the Equality Act 2010 or the contract of employment. 
3. Miscarriage of Justice.  
4. Where health and safety is endangered, for example, an unsafe working environment.  
5. Damage to the environment. 
6. Concealment of information relating to one of the above. 

A worker will be protected from being subject to a detriment if they inform their employer or other responsible person of their qualifying disclosure and the reason, they are subject to a detriment is because they made a qualifying disclosure.  For example, if they are threatened with disciplinary action   If an employee is dismissed for the principal reason that they made a disclosure their dismissal will be automatically unfair.  

Disclosure of sexual harassment will usually amount to a breach of a legal obligation or a health and safety risk. It will also usually be in the public interest to make a disclosure of sexual harassment to protect others in the workplace.  

A worker who makes a qualifying disclosure will not usually be in breach of any duty to maintain confidentiality given that the purpose of the legislation is to encourage workers to speak out about malpractice in the workplace. Any agreement which seeks to prevent a worker from making a disclosure is void. 

What changes? 

From 6 April 2026, sexual harassment is added to the list of qualifying disclosures, thus removing any ambiguity that disclosure of sexual harassment amounts to a qualifying disclosure. Protection from being subject to a detriment or dismissal will apply whether the disclosure is about sexual harassment which has happened already, is happening now, or is likely to happen. 

A worker making a disclosure about sexual harassment will still need to establish that they reasonably believe it is in the public interest and make a disclosure to the employer or other responsible person. As stated above, it is likely to be relatively straightforward to establish that the disclosure is in the public interest where others, be they work colleagues or the general public, may also be at risk.  

The change also makes clear that non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality clauses cannot prevent someone from blowing the whistle about sexual harassment. This means employers cannot use contracts or settlement agreements to silence concerns. 

In practical terms, the change will hopefully encourage more people to speak up, either to their employer or to prescribed bodies such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission. It also opens the door for interim relief claims if someone is dismissed for whistleblowing about sexual harassment, meaning a Tribunal could order pay to continue or even reinstate the employee while a case is ongoing. 

It has been more than a year since employers have been under a duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. It is hoped that these additional changes will encourage workers to raise concerns early and call out employers who have failed to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.