New UK Sexual Harassment Rules: Is Your Organisation Ready for October 2026?

Share this article

From 30 October 2026, employers across Great Britain will face a stronger duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work.

Is your organisation ready?

The new rules raise some practical questions:

  • Are your current policies and prevention measures enough?
  • Can employees raise concerns safely and early?
  • Are you doing enough to prevent issues before they escalate?

Join Fladgate and Veremark for a practical webinar on what the new duty means, where organisations may have gaps, and what UK employers should be doing now to prepare.

You’ll hear the legal perspective from Fladgate, alongside practical insight from Veremark on reporting, early intervention and the systems that can help organisations identify concerns sooner.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Understand what the October 2026 changes mean in practice
  • Identify gaps in your current prevention and reporting approach
  • Strengthen early reporting and intervention
  • Prioritise the actions your organisation should take now

David Morgan

Managing Director, Whistleblower Technology Solutions

Caroline Philipps

Senior Associate

Taj Rehal

Partner

FAQs

What background check do I need?

This depends on the industry and type of role you are recruiting for. To determine whether you need reference checks, identity checks, bankruptcy checks, civil background checks, credit checks for employment or any of the other background checks we offer, chat to our team of dedicated account managers.

Why should employers check the background of potential employees?

Many industries have compliance-related employment check requirements. And even if your industry doesn’t, remember that your staff have access to assets and data that must be protected. When you employ a new staff member you need to be certain that they have the best interests of your business at heart. Carrying out comprehensive background checking helps mitigate risk and ensures a safer hiring decision.

How long do background checks take?

Again, this depends on the type of checks you need. Simple identity checks can be carried out in as little as a few hours but a worldwide criminal background check for instance might take several weeks. A simple pre-employment check package takes around a week. Our account managers are specialists and can provide detailed information into which checks you need and how long they will take.

Can you do a background check online?

All Veremark checks are carried out online and digitally. This eliminates the need to collect, store and manage paper documents and information making the process faster, more efficient and ensures complete safety of candidate data and documents.

What are the benefits of a background check?

In a competitive marketplace, making the right hiring decisions is key to the success of your company. Employment background checks enables you to understand more about your candidates before making crucial decisions which can have either beneficial or catastrophic effects on your business.

What does a background check show?

Background checks not only provide useful insights into a candidate’s work history, skills and education, but they can also offer richer detail into someone’s personality and character traits. This gives you a huge advantage when considering who to hire. Background checking also ensures that candidates are legally allowed to carry out certain roles, failed criminal and credit checks could prevent them from working with vulnerable people or in a financial function.

Transform your hiring process

Request a discovery session with one of our background screening experts today.