Preventing bullying and harassment of school staff: new government guidance published

The non-statutory guidance brings together employers’ existing legal obligations and sets out the DfE's clear expectation that schools and trusts should take a proactive approach to protecting staff and supporting their wellbeing. Although the guidance applies directly to maintained schools and academies, other education providers may also find it helpful.

A whole-school approach

One of the key themes of the guidance is the need for a whole-school approach. 

The DfE expects you to create a culture where staff treat each other with dignity and respect, and leaders deal with unacceptable behaviour promptly and effectively. 

You should make sure reporting procedures are clear and accessible, record incidents properly, and regularly review information about staff wellbeing and workforce safety. You should also consider whether individual incidents indicate wider cultural or systemic issues that you need to address.

Headteachers, governors and trustees are expected to lead by example by modelling positive behaviours and supporting staff to create an inclusive, calm, safe and disciplined environment. They should work closely with staff, parents and pupils to develop, implement and maintain the behaviour policy, helping to build a shared understanding of the standards expected and how positive behaviour will be encouraged and rewarded. Staff, parents and pupils should understand the consequences of failing to meet the expected behaviour standards.

The law

The guidance reiterates the legal position. While there is no legal definition of bullying and employees cannot bring a standalone legal claim for bullying itself, bullying can still give rise to legal claims. For example, bullying may breach the implied duty of trust and confidence, leading to a constructive unfair dismissal claim. It may also amount to harassment under the Equality Act 2010 where it relates to a protected characteristic. 

Harassment occurs when an employee is subjected to unwanted conduct that is related to a protected characteristic, such as age, disability, race, religion or sex, or to unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. The conduct must have the purpose or effect of violating their dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for them. 

Employers are liable for their own acts of harassment and those carried out by their staff in the course of their employment, unless they can show that they took all reasonable steps to prevent it. 

From 30 October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 will extend employer liability to cases where employees are harassed by third parties, such as pupils, parents, contractors or visitors, unless the employer can show that they took all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.  

The guidance also highlights employers' proactive duty to prevent sexual harassment. Employers must currently take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of its staff by employees and third parties. From 30 October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 will strengthen this obligation by requiring employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.  

Bullying and harassment by colleagues

The guidance includes practical recommendations for tackling bullying and harassment between colleagues.

You should clearly communicate the standards of behaviour expected of all staff, provide appropriate training, and ensure clear grievance procedures are in place. You should deal with complaints promptly, sensitively and confidentially, while offering appropriate support, such as access to an employee assistance programme. While some concerns may be resolved informally, you should use formal grievance and disciplinary procedures where appropriate.   

The guidance also highlights your responsibility as an employer to consider whether a referral to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) is required where a teacher has engaged in serious misconduct. This may apply where the school has dismissed the teacher, or ceased to use their services, because of that misconduct. It may also apply where the decision to dismiss the teacher may have been taken, had the teacher not resigned. 

Addressing pupil behaviour

The guidance recognises that pupils can bully or harass staff and makes clear that you should respond consistently and decisively. 

Pupils should be taught that they have a duty to: 

• follow the school behaviour policy
• uphold the school rules
• contribute to the school culture
• respect school staff

Where staff safety is at risk, you should act quickly to remove the immediate risk and restore a safe learning environment. This may include removing a pupil from a classroom or taking other action in accordance with the school's behaviour policy. Serious incidents may require police involvement. 

Importantly, the guidance acknowledges that some challenging behaviour may arise from special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or trauma. While such behaviour may require intervention and support, the guidance notes that it will not necessarily amount to bullying. The guidance expects you to ensure school staff feel supported in such situations.

Parental behaviour

We have previously highlighted the growing problem of abuse directed at teachers by parents, both face-to-face and online. The guidance recognises this issue and includes specific measures to help you prevent and respond to such behaviour. 

The guidance makes clear that you should set expectations for how parents communicate and engage with staff. This may include incorporating standards of behaviour into home-school agreements or social media policies. Parents should understand what constitutes unacceptable conduct and be aware of the consequences of such behaviour.

Where incidents do occur, you should provide appropriate support to affected staff and take appropriate action. Depending on the circumstances, you may hold meetings, use mediation, issue verbal or written warnings, bar individuals from school premises under section 547 of the Education Act 1996 and, in more serious cases, report matters to the police. 

The guidance makes clear that staff, including headteachers, should not have to deal with abusive or intimidating behaviour on their own. Headteachers in maintained schools should inform their local authority, while headteachers in academies should escalate to the appropriate level within the academy trust. 

In addition, the guidance highlights that if, as part of a dispute, parents or others start filming outside the school grounds and capture individual members of staff, this can harm staff wellbeing and create safeguarding concerns for pupils. The guidance notes that you can seek to address inappropriate filming around school premises by following the advice set out in No filming in this school. 

Managing online abuse

The guidance also devotes significant attention to online bullying and harassment. 

You should ensure your policies cover online behaviour and social media use. You should respond promptly to online harassment, even when it happens outside normal school hours, and support staff to report and remove harmful content. 

The guidance highlights practical steps such as contacting social media providers, using reporting mechanisms and working with specialist organisations where necessary. 

Key actions for schools and trusts

Although the guidance does not create new legal duties, it sets out the standards the DfE expects schools to meet when protecting and supporting staff. You should use the guidance as an opportunity to review whether your existing arrangements remain effective and up to date.

In particular, you may wish to review key policies and procedures, including your behaviour policy, complaints procedure, social media policy and code of conduct. These documents should clearly set out the standards of behaviour expected, explain how concerns can be reported, and outline the action the school will take when incidents occur. 

The guidance also provides a useful opportunity for you to review the support available to staff who experience bullying or harassment. You should consider whether staff know how to report concerns, whether incidents are recorded appropriately, and whether arrangements are in place to support staff following an incident. 

Training is another important area for consideration. You should ensure that all staff understand the standards expected of them, recognise inappropriate behaviour when it occurs, and know how to respond effectively to concerns. Our back to basics training modules include dedicated sessions on sexual harassment for both employees and managers, and we can also provide bespoke face-to-face or remote training tailored to the needs of your organisation. Please speak to Jenny Arrowsmith or Gordon Rodham for more information.

You can also find out more about the harassment reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025, as well as the other employment law changes coming into force, here. 

Our newsletters

We publish monthly employment and education newsletters. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list, please let me know.