UK Employment Rights Act 2025: Harassment law is getting tougher – and games companies need to be ready

UK game companies are heading into a materially stricter harassment regime under the Employment Rights Act 2025. From October 2026, employers will again be liable for harassment by third parties, reversing the 2013 repeal and putting studios on the hook for abuse from publishers, vendors, contractors, event attendees, and even players in public-facing channels.

The practical problem for games is obvious: development is built on external relationships and constant community contact. Community teams, support staff, devs on social media, convention crews, and anyone in Discord or livestream spaces can be exposed to abusive behaviour that studios can’t fully control. The new standard pushes employers to plan ahead with partner conduct rules, reporting paths, role-specific protections, and support for staff who face repeated abuse.

The other big shift is wording that raises the bar on sexual-harassment prevention from “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps” from October 2026. That means tribunals are likely to look harder at whether studios actually assessed risk, tailored training, updated policies, and checked whether reporting systems work in practice. Generic annual training and a dusty intranet policy won’t be enough if certain teams face higher exposure.

One change is already live: since April 6, 2026, disclosures about sexual harassment can qualify for whistleblowing protection. A further reform is planned for 2027, when confidentiality clauses that stop workers speaking about discrimination or harassment are expected to be banned. Together, these changes could...