Free employer template
Harassment risk assessment template
A practical risk assessment for the sexual harassment duty and the new third-party harassment duty applying from 30 October 2026. Built for a business owner to complete, not a compliance department.
6 September 2026
The short answer
Do employers need a harassment risk assessment?
The law does not yet require a written assessment by name, but from 30 October 2026 employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees (Equality Act 2010 s.40A, as amended by the Employment Rights Act 2025 s.20) and must not permit third parties to harass them (Equality Act 2010 s.40(1A), added by s.21).
The Equality and Human Rights Commission's technical guidance expects employers to consider the risks and act on them, and a dated assessment with owners and actions is the clearest evidence that you did.
The Act also lets the government make regulations on what counts as reasonable, and assessments are first on that list (Equality Act 2010 s.40B, added by s.22).
Law: Equality Act 2010, s.40A; Employment Rights Act 2025, ss.20 to 22; EHRC technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work
No form, no email gate and no waiting for a link. Download the file, complete it, keep it and act on it. Electra HR does not receive or store completed copies.
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Best for printing, sharing internally and keeping a signed-off copy.
PDFDownload the DOCX
Editable version for adding your sites, risks, owners, dates and evidence.
DOCXWhat the template covers
- Your existing policy, reporting routes, training, incident log and review arrangements
- Risks from customers, clients, contractors, suppliers, visitors and online contact
- Lone working, late working, social events, travel and power imbalances
- An action plan with owners, target dates, reasons and evidence
- An incident log and sign-off section with a dated review point
How to use it
Work through it in order. For a business of 5 to 50 people, it should take under two hours. Every No in the controls table and every further reasonable step you identify needs an owner and a date. If you decide a step is not reasonable for your business, record that decision and your reason.
The legal background and the changes from 30 October 2026 are explained in our harassment duty briefing.