{"id":9530,"date":"2026-09-11T09:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrteamservices.com\/?p=9530"},"modified":"2026-09-11T09:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:57:11","slug":"third-party-harassment-october-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrteamservices.com\/en\/third-party-harassment-october-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Third-Party Harassment: Is Your Business Ready for October 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most employers understand their responsibility to prevent and respond to harassment in the workplace. But what happens when the person responsible for the behaviour is not an employee?<\/span><\/p>\n

From 30 October 2026, <\/span>new measures under the Employment Rights Act 2025<\/span><\/a> will strengthen harassment protections in Great Britain. Employers will have an obligation not to permit their employees to be harassed by third parties, such as customers, clients, contractors or members of the public, where the employer has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, the existing preventative duty around sexual harassment will be strengthened. Employers will be required to take all reasonable steps, rather than simply reasonable steps, to prevent sexual harassment of employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

For businesses with customer-facing teams or employees who regularly interact with people outside the organisation, these changes make it important to review existing policies, risk assessments, reporting procedures and training before the new requirements take effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this guide, we’ll explain what is changing, what third-party harassment means in practice and the practical steps employers can take now to strengthen their approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Is Changing in October 2026?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces two important changes to harassment protections.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, the existing preventative duty for sexual harassment will be strengthened from a duty to take reasonable steps to a duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, employers will have a new obligation not to permit third parties to harass their employees. The legislation provides that an employer will be considered to have permitted the harassment where the third party harasses an employee in the course of their employment and the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The third-party provision is broader than sexual harassment. It covers the three forms of harassment set out in section 26 of the Equality Act 2010, including harassment related to relevant protected characteristics, sexual harassment and less favourable treatment because someone rejected or submitted to sexual harassment.<\/span><\/p>\n

For employers, this means looking beyond relationships between colleagues and considering the risks employees may face when dealing with people outside the organisation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Businesses should consider:<\/span><\/p>\n