Preventing Sexual & Third-Party Harassment in the Workplace: Advice for UK Businesses
Historically, harassment was an issue that was handled after an occurrence had taken place. Starting 30 October 2026, new law in the UK requires employers to anticipate risks before they occur for both sexual harassment and general harassment from the public.
For customer-facing sectors such as arts venues, theaters, leisure centers, and the care industry, these new measures will likely require new processes to be implemented.
Harassment measures that will take effect on 30 October 2026 in the UK include:
requiring employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees
introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties
Practical Steps: An Employer’s Action Plan to Preventing Employee Harassment
Step 1: Conduct & Document Specific Risk Assessments
General workplace risk assessments are now insufficient. Employers should create dedicated sexual harassment risk assessments and third-party harassment risk assessments that evaluate role types, shift patterns, venue layouts, and public interaction levels.
Employers are expected to document identified risks alongside the precise steps taken to mitigate them. Ensure you have clear policies for both the new measures and clear consequences for any breaches of policy.
Establish a time frame to reassess risk assessments. It’s good practice to proactively review risk assessments to identify any potential new risks. Especially if any big changes are happening in the organisation, such as a large influx of seasonal staff, or the opening of a new venue for example.
Step 2: Establish Zero-Tolerance Third Party Policies
Set clear boundaries for external visitors:
Display zero-tolerance signage across venues.
Include standard zero-tolerance clauses in any client, third-party, and contractor agreements.
Empower customer facing workers to remove themselves immediately from unsafe interactions with the public without fear of disciplinary action. The goal is to create a safe environment for all staff.
Step 3: Implement Accessible, Multi-Channel Reporting
Employees must have clear, low-barrier ways to report incidents or unsafe conditions.
Provide confidential digital reporting options so casual or off-site workers can easily log incidents.
Ensure incidents are dealt with in a professional and timely manner. Keep all parties updated where applicable.
Maintain central, confidential incident logs for all reported cases.
Use incident logs to detect patterns that may involve specific event types, roles, or locations.
Step 4: Deliver Training for Specific Roles
Train all staff to recognise unacceptable behavior, understand bystander intervention techniques, and navigate reporting channels.
Have additional role specific training for staff working in higher risk areas or departments.
Train shift supervisors and line managers to respond swiftly and empathetically to reports. Use companies like iHasco and Flow Learning for staff training if you don’t have in-house facilities. Both of which can be integrated with StaffSavvy for seamless monitoring of what training and certificates staff hold.
Communicate anti-harassment policies and safety updates directly to staff, requiring digital read-receipt acknowledgements for all policies. With StaffSavvy, you can block shifts until staff have completed necessary training and have sent read-receipts for policy documents.
High-Risk Environments for Customer Facing Roles
The EHRC highlights specific operational factors that heighten harassment risks for customer-facing roles. Be extra vigilant with prevention of harassment if you have staff working in these environments, extra precautionary measures may be necessary.
Lone Working & Night Shifts: Late-night pack-downs, box office duties, or security shifts with minimal supervisory presence.
Alcohol-Fueled Environments: Events, bar service, and leisure functions where customer behaviour is unpredictable.
Power Imbalances: Junior, zero-hours, or casual staff working alongside high-profile clients, donors, or senior event organisers.
Off Site & Out-of-Hours Events: External touring productions, corporate functions, or work-related social gatherings.
The Penalties for Non-Compliance
Failing to meet these new legal duties carries financial and reputational consequences:
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Enforcement: The EHRC holds direct powers to investigate non-compliant employers, issue legally binding notices, and seek court injunctions—even if no individual employee files a tribunal claim.
Tribunal Uplifts: If an employee wins a sexual harassment claim and the tribunal finds the employer failed to take reasonable preventative steps, compensation awards can be increased by up to 25%.
