A bit of workplace banter can help people build relationships and enjoy working together. But when does a joke go too far?
What one person sees as harmless fun might leave someone else feeling uncomfortable, embarrassed or singled out. And calling something ‘just banter’ doesn’t automatically make it acceptable.
For employers, understanding the difference between banter and harassment is an important part of creating a respectful workplace and meeting their legal responsibilities.
When does banter become harassment?
Banter might involve friendly teasing, inside jokes or light-hearted comments between colleagues. It becomes a concern when people feel targeted, humiliated or uncomfortable.
Harassment can include unwanted behaviour related to a protected characteristic, such as race, disability, age or sex. Sexual harassment involves unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature. Depending on the circumstances, a comment intended as a joke could still amount to harassment.
The important thing is to consider the behaviour, its impact and the context. Good intentions alone don't make inappropriate comments acceptable.
Employers need to make sure their people understand what respectful behaviour looks like and know how to raise concerns when something feels wrong.
What is changing under the Employment Rights Act?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces important changes to workplace harassment protections from 30 October 2026.
There are two key changes employers need to understand.
The duty to prevent sexual harassment is strengthening. Employers must already take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. From 30 October, they’ll need to take all reasonable steps.
Employers will also have a duty relating to third-party harassment. This means employers must not permit third parties, such as customers, clients or contractors, to harass their employees unless they’ve taken all reasonable steps to prevent it.
These changes put greater emphasis on prevention. Employers need to think about the risks their people face, the support available to them and whether their current approach is working.
How can employers prepare?
There’s no single checklist that guarantees compliance. The steps an employer needs to take will depend on its organisation, workforce and working environment.
However, there are several areas worth reviewing:
- Policies and procedures: Are expectations clear, and do employees know how to report concerns?
- Workplace risks: Have you considered where harassment could happen, including work-related events and interactions with customers or clients?
- Staff training: Do employees understand what harassment can look like and how to recognise inappropriate behaviour?
- Manager capability: Are managers confident about responding to concerns and reinforcing expected standards?
- Regular reviews: Do you check whether your policies, reporting processes and training are effective?
Training is an important part of this approach. Policies can explain what’s expected, but employees also need to understand how those expectations apply to everyday situations.
Help your people recognise harassment at work
Building a respectful workplace takes a shared effort. Employees need to understand their responsibilities, while managers need to know how to support the right culture and respond to concerns.
Learning Nexus offers practical eLearning to help organisations build awareness and encourage respectful behaviour. Developed in collaboration with our group employment law experts, Halborns, our courses combine practical learning with expert legal insight.
Our Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work course helps employees understand what sexual harassment looks like, how to speak up and how to respond to inappropriate behaviour. For a closer look at the difference between humour and harassment, our Better Banter at Work course explores where the boundaries lie.
You can also find out more about our new training course, Responding to Sexual Harassment Concerns, that helps managers respond confidently and consistently to sexual harassment concerns, by getting touch.