Food and beverage businesses often operate in environments where employees have frequent interaction with customers, suppliers, contractors and other third parties.
From 30 October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 will see employers held legally responsible for the harassment of workers by third parties. This will expose employers to claims arising from conduct by individuals who are not part of their workforce coupled with an extension to the duty to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent such harassment arising in the first place.
Given wider impactions beyond employee management, particularly in respect of compliance and commercial relationships, this new liability needs to be viewed by businesses as a governance and wider risk management issue as well as a strategic HR issue requiring careful and proactive risk management.
Understanding obligation and identifying steps to mitigate risk is therefore key ahead of the changes coming into force.
Current position
Currently an employer is liable for harassment committed by its own employees against other employees during the course of employment (unless they took all reasonable steps to prevent it). However, there is currently no direct liability for an employer where acts of harassment are committed by third parties against the employer’s employees.
What is changing?
As of 30 October 2026, there is a reintroduction of employer liability for third-party harassment. This liability for the employer will arise where:
- A third party (anyone other than the employer or its employees) harasses an employee in the course of their employment; and
- The employer has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.
Notably, the new provisions apply not just to sexual harassment but to harassment relating to all relevant protected characteristics; age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
What is harassment?
Harassment under the Equality Act 2010 is broadly defined and occurs where there is: unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic and the conduct has the purpose or effect of:
- Violating an individual’s dignity; or
- Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
Importantly, the conduct does not have to be intended to cause offence or upset and can take various forms, including comments, jokes, gestures or messages etc. It need not be a campaign of conduct; a one-off incident may amount to harassment.
Furthermore, where behaviour occurs outside work, for example at work-related social events, it may still amount to harassment that the employer has liability for, if it is considered on the facts as an extension of the workplace.
Why does this matter for food and beverage businesses?
Food and beverage businesses are particularly exposed to this risk because employees regularly interact with a wide range of third parties. A third party includes clients, contractors, suppliers and visitors, and for many roles, these interactions may be key as part of day to day operations.
Employers clearly have less control over the behaviour of third parties than they do over their own employees and there is therefore potential for substantial liability. Under the new law, an employee will only need to show that:
- The third-party harassment occurred in the course of their employment; and
- The employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.
Accordingly, employers could potentially face liability arising from a single incident of third-party harassment.
What are ‘all reasonable steps’?
There is not a definitive checklist of measures employers must take and what is reasonable will depend on the particular facts and circumstances of the business. However, some examples of what relevant steps are likely to include are:
- Ensuring the business has carried out appropriate risk assessments
- Implementing and regularly reviewing anti-harassment policies
- Providing regular training for managers and staff
- Clearly communicating expected standards of behaviour to suppliers, customers, visitors and other third parties
- Investigating complaints promptly and thoroughly.
Practical implications and steps to take now
The third-party harassment provisions increase employer obligations. In preparation for the new provisions coming into force, businesses in the sector should review and put in place appropriate HR policies, training, reporting processes and carry out appropriate risk assessments.
Risk assessments should consider factors such as where employees come into contact with third parties in the course of their employment, the nature and frequency of the contact. Additional specific training will be appropriate for employees and managers whose roles (or the role for staff they are responsible for as line managers) involve regular contact with third parties.
Importantly, thought should also be given to reviewing commercial contracts and arrangements. In particular, consideration should be given to whether such agreements adequately address expected standards of conduct.
Where appropriate, businesses should look to include contractual protections requiring third parties to comply with the business’s standards of conduct, including the ability to remove personnel where necessary, and consider including indemnities in respect of harassment committed by third-party staff.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the new third-party harassment provisions are not the only potential liability arising from inappropriate conduct by third parties. Depending on the circumstances, employers may also face other employment-related claims.
For example, issues may arise where an employer’s response to a complaint of third-party harassment gives rise to allegations of direct or indirect discrimination. Employees could seek to pursue constructive unfair dismissal claims, e.g., where an employer has failed to take action in response to concerns raised.
About the author
Harriet Hutchinson is an associate in the employment team at Birketts LLP.
