The new duty to prevent harassment by customers and the public: a practical guide for employers

On 30 October 2026, two changes to harassment law come into force under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Employers must take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their workers, rather than “reasonable steps”. And employers become liable for harassment by third parties, such as customers or clients, unless they’ve taken all reasonable steps to prevent it.

For businesses whose staff deal with the public every day, such as security, cleaning, facilities management, retail, and hospitality, this is a big change. Here’s what it means in practice and what to do about it.

What changes on 30 October 2026

The start date was fixed by commencement regulations made on 1 October 2026 (SI 2026/1065), which bring sections 20 to 22 of the Act into force.

• The sexual harassment duty gets stronger. Employers already had to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. From 30 October, it’s all reasonable steps, so missing a single reasonable step could lead to a claim and possible action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
• Third-party harassment becomes a standalone claim. An employer must not permit a third party to harass its employees, and it will be treated as permitting harassment if it failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.
• It covers more than sexual harassment. The third-party duty covers harassment related to protected characteristics, and liability can arise from a single incident.
• “Third party” is wide. It means anyone other than the employer and its employees, so clients, customers, suppliers, and members of the public are all included.

Two related points are worth knowing. For claims about acts on or after 1 October 2026, the time limit for most employment tribunal claims has risen from three months to six, so your records need to be kept and easy to find for longer. And where an employer breaches the duty to prevent sexual harassment, tribunals can increase compensation by up to 25%.

What “all reasonable steps” looks like

The Act lets the government make regulations setting out what reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment look like, but those haven’t been made yet. Until they are, the EHRC’s technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work is the best benchmark. In practice, a tribunal will want to know whether you can show you took every reasonable step open to you, given your size, your resources, and the risks your staff face.

A practical plan for employers

1. Assess harassment risk by role and site. Look at where your people meet third parties: lone working, night shifts, door and reception roles, shop floors, clients’ premises, and phone or online contact. Pay particular attention to junior staff and situations with a power imbalance. Write the assessment down and review it. If you hold ISO 45001, this fits within your hazard identification and risk assessment, and ISO 45003 gives a framework for managing psychosocial risks.
2. Update your harassment policy. Make sure it clearly covers third parties and all relevant protected characteristics, not just sexual harassment between colleagues.
3. Tell third parties what you expect. Put behaviour expectations into client contracts and terms of business, and make them visible where staff meet the public. If your staff work on client sites, agree with the client who does what if their staff or visitors harass yours.
4. Make reporting easy and trusted. Staff need a simple way to raise concerns and confidence that something will happen. Be careful about simply moving the person who complained away from a client or site, as that can create a risk of a victimisation claim.
5. Train staff and managers. Managers need to know how to recognise, record, and respond to harassment by third parties, including when the person involved is an important client.
6. Keep an audit trail. Record your risk assessments, training, incidents, investigations, and the actions you took. Being able to show what you did may matter as much as the measures themselves.

For security and cleaning firms in particular

Your officers and operatives are employed by you but work on someone else’s premises, surrounded by the client’s staff, visitors, and the public. Under the new duty, all of those people are third parties as far as you’re concerned. Assignment instructions, client contracts, incident logs, and supervisor checks are where you’ll show you took all reasonable steps, so review them now.

CAW Consultancy can review your harassment policy, risk assessments, and assignment instructions against the new duty and build them into your management system. Our sister company Screen My Staff also supports employers with workplace wellbeing and psychosocial risk. Call 01257 824481 or email Craig@cawconsultancy.co.uk.

This article is general guidance, not legal advice. For a specific situation, speak to an employment lawyer.

Related reading

• Employment Law Basics Every Small Business Owner Should Know
• Conflict Resolution in the Workplace: A Manager’s Guide
• Recognising and Preventing Burnout in Your Team

About the author

Craig Willetts, lead auditor with over 20 years’ experience across 20+ ISO standards and UK security schemes. I founded CAW Consultancy to help UK businesses get ready for ISO certification and accreditation, in plain English and without the jargon. My team prepares you for your audit, and your chosen certification body carries it out. Connect with me on LinkedIn or visit CAW Consultancy.