October is getting closer.
And for HR teams, it’s not just another month on the calendar.
Two significant changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 are coming into effect.
From 1 October, the time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims will increase from three months to six months.
Then, from 30 October, employers will have a stronger legal duty to prevent sexual harassment — and new liability for harassment by third parties such as customers and clients.
But here’s the question I think businesses should be asking:
Are we actually ready — or are we just waiting for October to arrive?
It’s easy to update a policy.
It’s much harder to change behaviour.
An organisation can have:
- a beautifully written harassment policy
- mandatory e-learning
- an HR inbox for complaints
- an employee handbook
- a grievance procedure
…and still have a workplace culture where people don’t feel comfortable speaking up.
That is the real challenge.
The new duty around sexual harassment is moving further towards prevention, rather than simply responding when something has already happened.
Acas makes this very clear. From 30 October, employers will need to take all reasonable steps, including measures appropriate to the organisation’s size, sector and working environment. This could include risk assessments, training, reporting routes and organisation-wide preventative measures.
And what about customers?
This is where I think some businesses may underestimate the change.
A worker might be dealing with:
- an aggressive customer
- an inappropriate client
- a contractor
- a supplier
- a member of the public
- someone attending an event
From 30 October, employers can be liable for harassment by third parties unless they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent it.
That means prevention can’t necessarily stop at the office door.
For some businesses, this could mean reviewing customer-facing processes, contracts, reporting procedures, lone-working arrangements, training and incident recording.
And then there’s the six-month tribunal window.
From 1 October, most employment tribunal claims will have a six-month time limit rather than three months.
That doesn’t mean every dispute will end up in a tribunal.
But it does potentially give employees more time to consider their options, seek advice, raise concerns internally or go through Acas Early Conciliation before deciding whether to proceed.
For employers, that makes good early resolution even more important.
Because prevention isn’t just about avoiding litigation.
It’s about resolving problems before they become bigger problems.
So what should HR be doing now?
I wouldn’t start with:
“Let’s update the policy.”
I’d start with:
1. What are our actual risks?
Where do employees interact with customers, clients, suppliers or members of the public?
Where are the vulnerable points?
Where could inappropriate behaviour occur?
2. Do managers know what to do?
If an employee says:
“That customer made an inappropriate comment.”
Does the manager know what to do?
Or do they simply say:
“Don’t worry about it.”
Manager capability is critical.
3. Can employees actually report concerns?
Is there more than one reporting route?
Do employees know where to go?
Do they trust the process?
4. Are we preventing problems or simply investigating them?
A policy that only becomes relevant after something happens isn’t really a prevention strategy.
5. Are we documenting what we’re doing?
If the legal standard becomes “all reasonable steps”, organisations should be able to demonstrate the steps they have considered and implemented.
Acas specifically recommends assessing risks, monitoring incidents, having appropriate policies, training workers and considering measures appropriate to the organisation.
And here’s my HR Oriented view
I think there’s a danger that organisations approach the Employment Rights Act as a compliance project.
Update the policy.
Send the training.
Tick the box.
Move on.
But employment law doesn’t create a good workplace on its own.
Managers do.
Culture does.
Leadership does.
And the way an organisation responds when something goes wrong does.
The real question isn’t:
“Have we updated our policies before October?”
It’s:
“If something happened tomorrow, would our organisation know what to do — and could we demonstrate that we had taken reasonable steps to prevent it?”
Because being legally compliant and being genuinely prepared are not always the same thing.
October is coming.
Is your organisation ready?