Employers have long been expected to address harassment when it occurs in the workplace. Increasingly, however, the legal focus has begun to move beyond how organisations respond after an incident and towards the steps they take to prevent it happening in the first place. This reflects a growing expectation that employers should actively create working environments in which dignity and respect are protected.
The position becomes more complicated where inappropriate behaviour comes from individuals outside the workforce. Employees in a wide range of sectors regularly interact with customers, clients, contractors or members of the public as part of their role. While these interactions are an essential part of modern working life, they can occasionally expose staff to situations where behaviour becomes intimidating, degrading or offensive.
Reforms introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 are intended to strengthen protections against harassment in the workplace. The legislation will amend the Equality Act 2010 to reintroduce employer liability where employees are subjected to harassment by third parties, such as customers, clients or contractors. Once the provisions come into force in October 2026, employers will be required to demonstrate that they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent such conduct, reflecting a broader shift in employment law towards proactive prevention rather than reactive response.
For many organisations, the change raises important questions about how workplace policies, reporting mechanisms and management practices address risks that arise from interactions with people outside the organisation itself.
Understanding third-party harassment
In legal terms, harassment arises where behaviour related to a protected characteristic violates an employee’s dignity or creates a working environment that feels hostile or humiliating. While this is often discussed in relation to conduct between colleagues, similar issues can arise in interactions with people who are not part of the organisation’s workforce.
In practice, “third parties” can include a wide range of individuals who come into contact with employees in the course of their work. This might involve customers or clients, but it can also extend to contractors, consultants, suppliers, external trainers or other professionals visiting the workplace. Social events connected to work can also bring employees into contact with individuals whose behaviour may fall outside the employer’s direct control.
Because these individuals are not employees, organisations cannot manage their conduct in the same way they would deal with internal workplace behaviour. Nevertheless, employers remain responsible for ensuring that staff can carry out their work in an environment where inappropriate behaviour is taken seriously and addressed appropriately. How the law has approached that responsibility, however, has changed over time.
How the legal framework has evolved
The law relating to harassment by third parties has shifted several times over the past decade. Earlier provisions in the Equality Act attempted to hold employers responsible where staff were subjected to repeated harassment by individuals such as customers or clients, but those provisions were repealed in 2013.
In the years that followed, the legal position became less clear-cut. Employees who experienced harassment from people outside the organisation did not always have a straightforward route to bringing a claim. Employers could still face legal risk where problems were known about but not addressed, yet the legislation itself no longer set out a clear duty to prevent such behaviour.
The reforms introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 are intended to close that gap. By reintroducing employer liability for third-party harassment, the legislation signals a shift towards expecting organisations to take a more proactive role in protecting employees from inappropriate behaviour in the course of their work.
What the new duty will require
At the centre of the reforms is a requirement for employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment of employees by third parties. In practical terms, this means employers will need to think carefully about the situations in which staff interact with individuals outside the organisation and consider what safeguards are appropriate.
For some organisations, this may begin with reviewing existing workplace policies to ensure they address harassment involving customers, contractors or other visitors, not only conduct between colleagues. Staff should feel confident raising concerns if inappropriate behaviour occurs, and managers should understand how such issues should be handled.
Training is also likely to play an important role. Employees who regularly deal with external individuals should know how to respond if behaviour becomes unacceptable, while managers should be equipped to recognise patterns of concern and take action where necessary.
In some circumstances, organisations may also wish to consider how expectations around respectful behaviour are communicated to people who interact with their workforce. This might include guidance for visitors, expectations within client relationships, or procedures for addressing repeat incidents where they arise.
The precise steps required will inevitably vary between organisations. What is considered reasonable for a large employer with frequent public interaction may look different from the measures taken in a smaller workplace. The key point is that employers should be able to demonstrate that they have thought about the risks and taken proportionate steps to protect their staff.
Preparing for the changes
Although the new provisions will not come into force until October 2026, the reforms provide employers with an opportunity to review how their organisations approach harassment more broadly. Many employers already have policies in place addressing inappropriate behaviour within the workforce, but the new duty encourages organisations to think more carefully about how risks may arise through interactions with people outside the business.
Taking time to review policies, reporting procedures and management training ahead of the implementation date may help employers identify areas where further guidance or support would be beneficial. In particular, organisations may wish to consider whether staff feel confident raising concerns about behaviour involving customers, contractors or other external individuals.
More broadly, the reforms reflect a growing recognition that workplace dignity does not depend solely on relationships between colleagues. Employers who take a proactive approach to these issues are likely to be better placed to create working environments in which employees feel supported and protected.
