Workplace harassment duty: 6 rota decisions to review now

From 30 October 2026, employers face a higher bar for preventing harassment at work. Most of the advice so far has focused on policies, training and reporting routes, and those all matter.

But for shift-based teams in retail, hospitality, leisure and healthcare, a lot of day-to-day risk is shaped by something more practical: the rota.

Who works late, who closes alone, how many people are on during the busiest hours, and who new starters are paired with are all scheduling decisions. This blog looks at the rota decisions worth reviewing now, so your scheduling supports the new duty rather than working against it.

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What's changing on 30 October: a new legal duty under the Equality Act

Why scheduling helps prevent sexual harassment and other workplace harassment 

Six rota decisions to review

A quick rota check before and beyond 30 October 

Where scheduling technology helps

What's changing on 30 October: a new legal duty under the Equality Act 

The Employment Rights Act 2025 makes two changes that take effect on 30 October 2026.

"Reasonable steps" becomes "all reasonable steps". Since October 2024, employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.

From 30 October, that becomes a duty to take all reasonable steps. In practice, employers may need to show there was nothing more they could reasonably have done, not just that they did some sensible things.

If a sexual harassment claim succeeds and a tribunal finds the employer breached this duty, it can increase compensation by up to 25%. 

New liability for third-party harassment. Employers can face direct legal claims if they fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent employees from being harassed by third parties, such as customers, contractors, and members of the public.

The preventative duty itself covers sexual harassment only. But this new liability applies to harassment related to any protected characteristic, such as race, disability or religion. 

Under the Equality Act 2010, harassment is unwanted conduct that violates someone's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Customer-facing sectors like retail and hospitality are among the most affected.

The government has said regulations will set out more detail on what "all reasonable steps" means, but these aren't expected until 2027 or 2028. Until then, the Equality and Human Rights Commission's eight-step guide is the main reference point.

One of its themes is assessing risk in your own workplace, and that's where the rota comes in.

Why scheduling helps prevent sexual harassment and other workplace harassment 

Harassment risk isn't spread evenly across the week, and harassment can be a single incident, not just repeated behaviour. In shift-based workplaces, risk tends to cluster around certain times and situations: 

• Late-night and closing shifts, especially where alcohol is served
• Busy peaks like Friday nights, match days, events and Christmas trading
• Quieter periods where someone is working alone or out of sight of colleagues
• Shifts with no supervisor or manager on site
• Newer, younger or temporary staff who may be less confident about speaking up

Every one of these is affected by how the rota is built. A policy tells people what to do if something happens. The rota decides who is there, how many of them there are, and whether someone with authority is around to step in. That makes scheduling one of the most practical prevention tools a shift-based employer has.

Six rota decisions to review 

1. Lone working and closing shifts

Look at which shifts have one person working alone, particularly at opening, closing or late at night. Where the risk is higher, consider whether a second person should be scheduled, or whether lone working should be limited to lower-risk times and locations. 

2. Minimum cover at higher-risk times

Busy periods bring more customer contact, and with it more chance of difficult behaviour. Check that your minimum staffing levels reflect when incidents are more likely, not just when sales are highest.

Late-night trading, events and seasonal peaks are the usual places to start.

3. Supervisor and manager cover

A team member facing harassment needs someone who can step in, remove a customer or escalate, including when the issue involves a manager or senior colleague. Review whether every shift, especially late and weekend shifts, has a supervisor or manager on site, and whether managers know how to challenge inappropriate behaviour as well as respond to a report. 

4. Who works with whom

New starters, younger staff and temporary workers may be less likely to speak up. Where you can, pair them with experienced colleagues on higher-risk shifts rather than scheduling a group of inexperienced people together. 

5. Shift changes after a complaint

If someone raises a harassment concern, informally or through a formal complaint, rota changes may be needed while it's dealt with. That includes concerns about unwanted sexual advances from a colleague or manager.

Take care that the person who raised the concern isn't the one who ends up with fewer hours, worse shifts or a move to another site.

Treating someone less favourably because they raised a harassment concern can amount to victimisation under the Equality Act. That’s a separate claim, and it can succeed even if the original complaint doesn’t.

Treating them worse because they rejected sexual advances can also count as harassment.

6. Keeping a clear record

If a formal complaint is made, incidents are reported, or a tribunal claim follows, you may need to show what cover was in place at the time.

Since 1 October 2026, people have six months rather than three to bring most tribunal claims. That means rota history, shift changes and who was working when need to be easy to find well after the event.

Good records help show what steps you took in the specific circumstances.

A quick rota check before and beyond 30 October

Five questions to ask about next month's rota:

• Which shifts have someone working alone, and are any of them late at night or in higher-risk locations?
• Do our minimum staffing levels reflect when incidents are most likely, not just when we're busiest?
• Is there a supervisor or manager on every late and weekend shift?
• Are new or younger starters paired with experienced colleagues at higher-risk times?
• Could we quickly show who was working, and what cover was in place, for any shift in the last six months?

If any answer is "no" or "not sure", that's the place to start.

Where scheduling technology helps

Most of these checks are easy on paper but hard to do consistently every week, across every site and every manager. That’s true whether rotas live in spreadsheets, on paper or in an existing system, unless the rules are built into how they’re planned.  

Workforce management software like Rotageek can help by:

• Setting minimum staffing levels and the skills each shift needs, so gaps in cover show up before the rota goes out
• Making sure higher-risk shifts include the right people, such as a trained supervisor or a second team member
• Keeping an audit trail of rota and shift changes, so you can see who was working and when
• Notifying staff of changes through the mobile app, so everyone sees the latest rota

Technology doesn't replace a clear policy, training and a good reporting culture. But it makes it much easier to turn good intentions into rotas that support them, every week and at every site.

👉 See how Rotageek could help your teams plan safer, fairer rotas.

This article is for general information and isn't legal advice. Employment law details may change as regulations are confirmed, so check the latest Acas and GOV.UK guidance or seek professional advice for your specific situation.