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The Employment Rights Act 2025 (the Act), which applies to Great Britain, that is, England, Wales and Scotland, but not to Northern Ireland, which has its own employment legislation, comes into force, in stages, this year and next, contains some new rules of particular relevance to the sports sector.<\/p>\n
The aim of the Act is to strengthen and extend the employment rights of employees.<\/p>\n
From 30 October 2026, employers are legally required to take \u201call reasonable steps<\/em>\u201d to prevent harassment of their employees by third parties during the course of their employment.<\/p>\n Any employer that fails to do so will be regarded as having \u201cpermitted<\/em>\u201d the harassment and, therefore, liable to pay compensation to the employee concerned.<\/p>\n Harassment is defined in section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 as follows:<\/p>\n \u201c(1) A person (A) harasses another (B) if\u2014<\/p>\n (a) A engages in unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, and<\/p>\n (b) the conduct has the purpose or effect of\u2014<\/p>\n (2) A also harasses B if\u2014<\/p>\n (a) A engages in unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, and<\/p>\n (b) the conduct has the purpose or effect referred to in subsection (1)(b).<\/p>\n (3) A also harasses B if\u2014<\/p>\n (a) A or another person engages in unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or that is related to gender reassignment or sex,<\/p>\n (b) the conduct has the purpose or effect referred to in subsection (1)(b), and<\/p>\n (c) because of B’s rejection of or submission to the conduct, A treats B less favourably than A would treat B if B had not rejected or submitted to the conduct.<\/p>\n (4) In deciding whether conduct has the effect referred to in subsection (1)(b), each of the following must be taken into account\u2014<\/p>\n (a) the perception of B;<\/p>\n (b) the other circumstances of the case;<\/p>\n (c) whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect.<\/p>\n (5) The relevant protected characteristics are\u2014<\/p>\n\n