Petaurum HR launches workplace sexual harassment culture scan

Petaurum HR has launched a confidential Culture Scan for UK employers to uncover hidden sexual-harassment risks and produce board-ready evidence as workplace duties tighten under the Employment Rights Act 2025. The service is aimed at helping businesses identify gaps between policy and lived experience before new rules take effect on 30 October 2026.

Why it matters: - UK employers face stronger sexual-harassment duties under the Employment Rights Act 2025, including a broader prevention standard from 30 October 2026. - The new Petaurum HR service is designed to help organizations spot risks that policies and training records may miss. - The assessment can give leadership teams evidence to support prevention work, internal action plans and board-level oversight.

What happened: - Petaurum HR launched its Sexual Harassment Culture Scan for UK businesses. - The service is independent and confidential. - It is available to UK organizations now. - Petaurum HR says employers can arrange a confidential, no-obligation discovery conversation at More information.

The details: - The Culture Scan combines anonymous employee feedback, confidential interviews, focus groups and policy analysis. - The assessment is intended to show whether employees’ lived experiences match the standards and values in an organization’s policies. - The process includes an anonymous and confidential workforce survey. - The process includes one-to-one interviews with a representative sample of employees. - The process includes facilitated employee focus groups. - The process includes a review of relevant policies, procedures and training materials. - The process includes benchmarking against the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidance. - The process ends with a board-ready report and prioritized action plan. - The work is delivered independently over a timescale based on an organization’s size, priorities and circumstances. - The final output includes an evidence-based risk assessment, priority areas, benchmarking against the EHRC framework and a structured action plan. - An executive summary and leadership debrief are also included. - Petaurum HR says the service was created with small and medium-sized organizations in mind. - The consultancy says the approach is meant to be proportionate, practical and low-disruption.

Between the lines: - Petaurum HR is targeting a common compliance gap: an organization can have policies, procedures and training on paper while employees still feel unsafe or unheard. - An absence of formal complaints does not necessarily indicate low risk, especially if workers are reluctant to report misconduct. - The service is framed as evidence for leaders, not as a replacement for legal advice or a guarantee of compliance. - Hayley Crawford KPM, Petaurum HR’s sexual violence prevention specialist and HR adviser, said policies and training cannot fully show how safe people feel at work. - Crawford said the scan gives employees a confidential way to be heard and gives leaders independent evidence they can act on. - Crawford is a former police inspector and specialist in violence against women and girls. - Crawford created the internationally recognized Ask for Angela safeguarding initiative.

What's next: - From 30 October 2026, employers will be expected to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. - Employers will also have an obligation not to permit harassment by third parties such as customers, clients and contractors. - The changes apply regardless of organization size or sector. - Current government guidance is encouraging businesses to start preparing now. - The Equality and Human Rights Commission can enforce breaches of the existing preventative duty. - Employment tribunals may increase compensation by up to 25% if they find an employer breached that duty in a successful sexual-harassment claim. - Petaurum HR says the Culture Scan can support wider prevention work by providing structured evidence, independent insight and practical recommendations.

The bottom line: - Petaurum HR is pitching the Culture Scan as a practical tool for employers that need to prove they are looking beyond policy documents and into workplace reality ahead of tougher harassment rules.