Third-party harassment: your customers, your business, your risk?

What are reasonable steps to take to prevent harassment in the workplace?

An employer will only have a legal defence if it can show that it took ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent harassment. The third-party harassment rules cover conduct relating to the following protected characteristics under this Act.

• Race.
• Age.
• Religion or belief.
• Sexual orientation.
• Sex (including sexual harassment).
• Disability.
• Gender reassignment.

If your employees deal with the public or visit other organisations as part of their role, your business could be at risk. Below are three examples showing how the new Employment Rights Act rules may affect different sectors and the practical steps employers should take now.

Harassment example 1: Retail employees and difficult customers

A high-end furniture retailer runs several showrooms and its own home delivery service. During a busy weekend, a customer who is angry about a delayed sofa uses racist language towards a sales assistant. Later that week, a two-person delivery team is assembling a wardrobe in a customer’s home when the customer makes inappropriate sexual comments.

The law and business risk

Under the new rules, the retailer could be liable for both incidents. The fact that the second incident happened in a customer’s home does not remove the employer’s duty of care.

What reasonable steps could your company do to address potential racist or sexist behaviour?

Two suggested actions to take to prevent such harassment:

1. Showroom policies: Put clear signs at entrances and tills explaining that abusive or discriminatory behaviour towards staff will not be tolerated.

2. Delivery procedures: Give delivery teams a clear right to leave if they are harassed in a customer’s home. Workers should know that management will support them if they leave the goods undelivered and that they will not face disciplinary action. Your terms and conditions of sale should set out when you can stop providing services without being legally responsible for breaking the contract.

Harassment example 2: Field sales employees and food marketing

A new health food brand relies on brand ambassadors and field sales teams to market their produce. At a crowded food festival where alcohol is served, attendees make persistent, degrading comments about a young female brand ambassador’s appearance. Elsewhere, a wholesale buyer makes derogatory remarks about a sales representative’s sexual orientation and dismisses comments as ‘kitchen banter’.

The law and business risk

Calling this behaviour ‘banter” is unlikely to protect the employer at an Employment Tribunal if a harassment claim is made. Because these employees work in places controlled by third parties, the employer must assess the risks carefully and take practical steps to reduce those risks.

What reasonable steps could your company do to address such ‘banter’?

Two suggested actions to take to prevent such harassment:

1. 1. Check event and venue arrangements: Before booking a trade show or festival, review the organiser’s security and anti-harassment arrangements. If the protections are not good enough, consider whether your staff should attend.
   2. Make reporting harassment concerns easy: Give field teams a simple way to report incidents straight away. For example, through a mobile HR app or direct messaging function to HR (rather than making employees wait until they return to the workplace).

Harassment example 3: Pressures for logistics and warehouse workers

A regional logistics company employs a fleet of HGV drivers. An older driver regularly delivers to a third-party distribution centre where warehouse staff make repeated comments about his age and perceived slowness. At another site, a retail store manager makes abusive comments about where the driver ‘comes from’ (referring to the driver’s race) after a pallet is damaged.

The law and business risk

Drivers can be particularly vulnerable because they often work alone and deal with third parties, often in stressful, time-critical situations. An employer should not ignore complaints on the basis that this is simply how warehouse staff speak in times of tension. Taking this position could expose the company to potential employment law harassment claims.

What reasonable steps could your company do to address inappropriate comments or behaviour?

Two suggested actions to take to prevent such harassment:

1. 1. Create client contracts: Add clear anti-harassment terms to contracts with clients and suppliers. Explain that any abuse of drivers may lead to services being suspended (check that a suspension of services in these circumstances does not lead to liability on the part of the logistics company). General contract clauses or terms can open a business up to additional risk; close these gaps in any commercial contracts to protect both your company and employees.
   2. Deliver targeted training: Train transport managers to deal with complaints about third-party behaviour and to raise concerns with managers at client sites. This will ensure workers know how to reach out (and to whom) when they are out and about on behalf of the business.

What counts as ‘all reasonable steps’ under the new anti-harassment changes?

This will depend on your business and the potential risks your employees face. There is no ‘one size fits all’ list as it must be tailored to your type of business and its operations.

It is clear is that a policy sitting unread in a Staff Handbook will certainly not be enough (the focus is on action).

7 steps you can take now to address potential harassment and reduce risk

1. Map contact with third parties
   Identify every point where employees deal with customers, clients, the public, suppliers or contractors. Include supply chains, delivery routes and visits to other organisations.
2. Assess risks to the business
   Review all interactions to identify where harassment could occur and what protections employees need.
3. Put practical protections in place
   Take all reasonable steps to address the risks identified. Choose actions that suit your business and situations your employees face.
4. Train your managers
   Make sure managers know how to recognise concerns, respond to reports and support employees. Upskilling leaders can also provide reassurance to other employees that their concerns will be taken seriously and acted upon where appropriate.
5. Make reporting harassment simple
   Give employees clear, easy-to-use ways to report concerns, including when they are working away from your premises.
6. Record your decisions
   Document the risks, the protections chosen and the reasons for your decisions. If you decide a possible preventative step is not reasonable for your business, explain why.
7. Regularly review and test your anti-harassment position
   Repeat the assessment regularly and check that your protections work in practice (not just on paper as this will not prove all reasonable steps have been taken). Do not wait for a complaint to reveal gaps and expose your company to a legal claim.

The employment solicitors at HM3 Legal can help review your policies and provide training for your employees on harassment and third-party harassment. Training is tailored to your sector, day-to-day operations and potential business risk. We also support in-house HR teams with implementing legal compliance.

Our commercial contracts solicitors can also review your company terms of business, checking that they include clear terms to help prevent and deal with harassment by third-party employees.

Further employment law changes are happening in 2027 and HM3 Legal will publish additional updates.