Harassment in the workplace does not always happen between colleagues. Third-party harassment concerns the way your staff are treated by people outside your organisation, and from October 2026 it becomes a direct legal responsibility for employers. For any business whose people deal with customers, clients, or the public, the issue deserves close attention now rather than later.
Gap HR Services has supported small, owner-managed businesses since 2003, including many in customer-facing sectors such as hospitality, leisure, retail and golf and country clubs. We offer businesses real employment law expertise without the cost of an in-house team, and we now look after more than 300 clients on retainer, all of whom we work to keep tribunal-free.
Call us now on 01491 598 600 or Click Here to Make An Enquiry and we will be delighted to help you.
What Is Third Party Harassment?
Third-party harassment is harassment of your employees by someone who does not work for you. That includes customers, clients, patients, suppliers, contractors, and members of the public. The harassment might be sexual in nature, or it might relate to another protected characteristic, such as race, disability, age, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
The key distinction is the source of the harassment. With colleague harassment, the person responsible is within your control as their employer. With third-party harassment, the person responsible is outside your organisation, which is precisely what makes it harder to manage and why employers have sometimes assumed there is little they can do. The incoming law makes clear that there is, in fact, a good deal they are expected to do.
What Does The Law Say About Third Party Harassment?
Third-party harassment protection is not entirely new. A version of it existed in the Equality Act 2010, often described as the three strikes provision, but this was repealed in 2013, and employers have not been directly liable for it since.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 reintroduces and broadens that protection. From October 2026, employers will be directly liable where an employee is harassed by a third party, and the employer has not taken all reasonable steps to prevent it.
Importantly, this duty applies to harassment related to any protected characteristic, not only to sexual harassment. This sits alongside the wider strengthening of harassment law, including the move from reasonable steps to all reasonable steps and, from April 2026, the protection of harassment reports under whistleblowing law.
Where Is The Risk Highest?
The risk is greatest wherever staff have regular contact with people outside the business. Hospitality and leisure venues, where customers may have been drinking, are an obvious example. Retail, healthcare, and care settings, where staff deal constantly with the public, also carry clear risk. Clubs and member organisations, where the same individuals interact with staff repeatedly over time, present their own challenges.
Lone working, late hours, and isolated settings all increase exposure, as does any situation where a customer or client holds a degree of perceived power over a member of staff. For businesses in these sectors, the customer-facing nature of the work means third party harassment cannot be treated as a remote possibility. It is a foreseeable risk that needs to be planned for.
Why Are Small Businesses Particularly Exposed?
Smaller, owner-managed businesses often face this risk without the protections that larger organisations have built up over time. There may be no written policy, no formal reporting route, and no record of training, simply because no one has thought to put these in place.
There is also the relationship aspect. In a small business, a difficult customer may be a long-standing one, and a contractor may be someone the owner has worked with for years. The instinct to keep that relationship intact can make it harder to act decisively when a member of staff raises a concern. Recognising that tension in advance, and deciding how you will respond before a situation arises, puts you in a much stronger position than trying to work it out under pressure.
How Can Employers Reduce Third Party Harassment?
The starting point is to recognise the risk in your risk assessment and then to act on it. Make it clear to customers and visitors that harassment of staff will not be tolerated, whether through visible notices, terms of service, or the way expectations are set with contractors and suppliers.
Make sure staff know they can report incidents, that they will be taken seriously, and that support is available. Brief and empower managers to step in when they witness or are told about a problem, and be prepared to take action in response, which can include declining to serve, removing or barring a repeat offender, or ending an arrangement with a contractor.
How Can Gap HR Help With Third-Party Harassment?
We understand the realities of customer-facing work because so many of our clients operate in exactly those environments. We can help you assess where the risk sits, put practical measures in place that suit your business, and prepare for the direct liability that arrives in October 2026.
Since 2003, our focus has been helping owner-managed businesses stay compliant and tribunal free. All initial enquiries are free of charge and without obligation.
Call us now on 01491 598 600 or Click Here to Make An Enquiry and we will be delighted to help you.
