From October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 makes employers legally liable for harassment of their employees by third parties — customers, clients, patients, suppliers, or members of the public — unless the employer took all reasonable steps to prevent it.
What Is Changing
- Third-party liability — an employee harassed by a customer can bring a claim against you, the employer
- Higher prevention standard — the existing duty to prevent sexual harassment (in force since October 2024) rises from "reasonable steps" to "all reasonable steps" — a significantly higher bar
- Compensation uplift — breaching the preventative duty can add a 25% uplift to tribunal compensation, which is uncapped in harassment claims
Since 6 April 2026, reporting sexual harassment is also a protected whistleblowing disclosure, so mishandling a complaint carries additional risk.
Who Is Most Exposed
Any business with customer-facing staff: hospitality, retail, healthcare, care homes, transport, professional services. If your people deal with the public, third-party harassment is a foreseeable risk you must actively manage.
What "All Reasonable Steps" Looks Like
- A harassment risk assessment covering third-party contact points
- Clear anti-harassment policies extended to cover customers and visitors
- Regular, refreshed training for staff and managers — not a one-off induction slide
- Visible statements to customers that abuse of staff is not tolerated
- Reporting channels employees actually use, and documented responses to every report
- A record of every preventative step — the tribunal will ask what you did before the incident
Our training and policy services can get you to the "all reasonable steps" standard before October. Speak to us.