Over 30 years ago, Derby Round Table organised a charity dinner where comedian Bernard Manning was the guest speaker.
During the event, Manning made racist and sexually offensive jokes directed at two waitresses working at the dinner. Guests also engaged in insulting behaviour towards the women. Putting aside the legal position for a moment, the behaviour they experienced was completely unacceptable!
The two women subsequently brought an employment claim against De Vere Hotels. The Employment Appeal Tribunal held the hotel responsible, with an important consideration being that the circumstances were within the employer’s control and that steps could have been taken to prevent or reduce the harassment.
So why am I talking about a case from more than 30 years ago?
Because after many years of different rules around this area, third-party harassment is firmly back on the agenda for employers.
From 30 October 2026, new legislation will strengthen protection for employees who experience harassment at work from third parties. This could include customers, clients, suppliers, contractors, visitors and even comedians!
Could this affect your business?
The level of risk will vary depending on your organisation and the industry you operate in, but consider:
A care home employee interacting with residents’ families and visitors
A fast-food restaurant employee dealing with customers and delivery drivers
A retail employee interacting with customers
A service-based business interacting with business clients
A construction employee working alongside contractors
And the list goes on …
The important point is that employers will need to think about the behaviour of people outside their organisation, as well as the behaviour of their own employees.
From 30 October, if an employee experiences harassment related to a relevant protected characteristic, or sexual harassment, from a third party in the course of their employment, the employer could face a claim of harassment.
Crucially, an employer will be liable for third-party harassment unless it can demonstrate that it took all reasonable steps to prevent it.
So, what are “all reasonable steps”?
There won’t be a one-size-fits-all answer. What is reasonable will depend on your business, your workforce, the people your employees interact with and the risks they are likely to encounter.
However, some practical steps employers should be considering include:
Ensuring your policies clearly cover third-party harassment
Training managers to recognise and deal appropriately with third-party harassment
Carrying out risk assessments to identify where harassment could occur and documenting the steps you will take to minimise those risks
Making customers and visitors aware of the standards of behaviour you expect
Sharing appropriate codes of conduct or behavioural expectations with suppliers and contractors
Making sure employees know how to report concerns and what will happen when they do
The key message is simple:
You may not be able to control how every customer, client, visitor or contractor behaves but you can take steps to protect your employees.
The focus needs to be on prevention, not just reaction. Waiting until an employee raises a concern about third-party harassment will be too late. Employers need to consider the risks now and be able to demonstrate the reasonable steps they have taken to prevent harassment from happening in the first place.
If you would like to discuss how this impacts your business and the steps you should take please get in touch: alison@bellhr.co.uk