Board oversight and the all reasonable steps duty: what good governance looks like

From October 2026, UK employers must be able to demonstrate they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. Most organisations are focused on the operational picture - training, reporting routes, investigations. But without meaningful governance at the top, even the strongest framework has a gap at its centre.

Boards have a critical role to play. Not just in receiving information about how their organisation is managing harassment risk, but in asking the right questions, driving the right culture, and being able to demonstrate genuine oversight if challenged. That is a governance responsibility - and one that many boards have not yet fully engaged with.

This session explores board oversight from three distinct perspectives: the operational picture of what is actually happening across an organisation's speak-up activity, the governance mechanics of how that information should be structured and presented, and the leadership lens of what a board or senior leader needs to feel genuinely assured that the organisation is on top of this.

Together, those perspectives give a much fuller picture of what meaningful board oversight looks like in practice - and what it looks like when it is not working.

Join us as we explore what boards should be seeing, what questions they should be asking, and how organisations can build a governance framework that is not just compliant but genuinely effective.

Topics covered will include:

• What the all reasonable steps duty means at board level - and why it is a governance issue, not just an HR one
• The difference between receiving information and acting on it
• What data boards should be seeing, in what format, and how often
• How to structure reporting so that it drives genuine engagement rather than passive assurance
• The questions a well-governed board should be asking - and what it means if they are not
• How tone from the top shapes culture across the whole organisation

What you will learn

• What good board oversight looks like in practice, from both a governance and a leadership perspective
• How to build a board reporting framework that is structured, meaningful and evidenced
• Where organisations most commonly fall short at governance level - and how to address those gaps
• How board-level engagement connects to workplace culture across the organisation

Who should attend

This session is relevant to anyone with responsibility for governance, oversight or assurance. It will be of particular value to board members and non-executive directors, General Counsel and legal teams, company secretaries and governance professionals, HR Directors, and senior compliance and risk leads.

If you sit on a board, advise one, or are responsible for ensuring your board has the right information to govern this issue effectively - this session is for you.