Third party harassment will occur when a worker is subject to unwanted conduct from someone outside of the business that they’re employed by.
Harassment by a third party could come in the following forms:
- Verbal abuse
- Offensive jokes
- Unwanted physical contact
- Contributing to an unpleasant environment
The Equality Act 2010
Preventing third party harassment will be expanded under the Employments Rights Act 2025 and covers some protected characters outlined by the Equality Act 2010. They include:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
What is third party harassment in the workplace?
Irrespective of whether the perpetrator is on their payroll, it is the responsibility of employers to take reasonable steps to prevent third party harassment happening in their workplace.
A third party is anyone an employee might encounter at work who isn’t a colleague. For example, customers, patients, delivery drivers or contract workers. If their actions are considered unwanted behaviour that violates employees’ dignity, then this will be harassment.
Changes to third party harassment from the Employment Rights Act 2025
The Employment Rights Act 2025 has seen significant changes to employment law, including legislation pertaining to third party harassment.
As of 1st October 2026, employers will have an obligation to not permit the harassment of their workers by third parties. Prior to this, employers were not responsible for the actions of non-employees.
What is third party sexual harassment?
Similarly, third party sexual harassment is when an employee faces unwanted sexual conduct from an individual outside of their organisation.
This includes crude comments, physical contact and sexual advances—essentially, anything that impacts an employee’s dignity and safety in their workplace.
How is the Employment Rights Act 2025 changing third party sexual harassment?
An important change for employers is that as of October, they must take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment—including third party sexual harassment.
Employers arguing that a policy is in place will not be sufficient. Instead, they must be proactive and demonstrate that “all reasonable steps” were taken to prevent sexual harassment.
What constitutes “reasonable steps” will be specified later in 2027. Employers could be required to evidence that every step of statutory regulations have been met—its aim is to remove ambiguity.
Preventing third party harassment
Whilst elements of changing laws are yet to be implemented, there are actions employers can take now to protect themselves from third party harassment claims.
Firstly, a risk assessment is an invaluable tool for employers. It allows them to identify, evaluate and mitigate risks that could lead to third party harassment. Download our free risk assessment template here to protect your business and staff.
Enforcing strict policies is also a measure employers can use to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Unsure what to include in yours? Get our free sexual harassment policy.
Contracts can help with a strong stance against third-party harassment. Employers can include anti-harassment clauses within their contracts.
Displaying notices that state your business adopts a “zero tolerance” approach is another means to deter third party harassment.
FAQs: What is third party harassment?
Legally, what is a “third party”?
A “third party” is anyone that isn’t directly employed by an employer. This includes customers, clients, contractors, delivery drivers, suppliers and the public.
Does harassment have to happen multiple times for an employer to be liable?
A single serious incident will be sufficient for liability to be triggered.
When can employers be held directly liable for customer’s actions?
If an employer is found not to have taken “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment of an employee, then they may be liable.
What qualifies as “all reasonable steps”?
Presently, the law doesn’t outline this. However, there are best practices to follow, such as risk assessments, contractual clauses, signage, and reporting systems.
Final say: What is third party harassment?
Resulting from the Employment Rights Act 2025, employers’ role in preventing and addressing third party harassment is going to change.
From 1st October 2026, employers will have direct liability for the harassment of their staff from third parties. And they will have to prove they’ve taken “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment.
Peninsula ensures you’re compliant with third party harassment laws
Is your business ready for the changes to the laws surrounding third party harassment? If it isn’t, your organisation will face reputational and financial damage.
Peninsula has over 40 years’ experience, which, along with our fantastic service has earned us over 2,100 reviews and a Google rating of 4.8.
Partnering with us not only protects you from third party harassment claims, but we put you in good stead for other imminent changes from the Employment Rights Act 2025.
You’ll also get 24/7 HR advice, unlimited documentation support, the latest HR software, and much more.
We support thousands of businesses like yours. Contact us here to learn more.
