Harassed by Customers? Your Employer's New Legal Duty

From 30 October 2026, employers in England, Wales and Scotland must not permit customers, clients or anyone else outside the business to harass their staff. If they have not taken all reasonable steps to stop it, you can take them to an employment tribunal.

What does the new rule say?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 adds a new rule to section 40 of the Equality Act 2010. Your employer permits a third party to harass you only if both of these are true:

• the harassment happens in the course of your work for them, and
• your employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.

If your employer did take all reasonable steps, it has not broken this rule, even if the harassment still happened.

What counts as harassment?

Under the Equality Act 2010, harassment is unwanted conduct related to one of these characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. It must have the purpose or effect of:

• violating your dignity, or
• creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for you.

Unwanted conduct of a sexual nature with that purpose or effect is also harassment.

Pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnership, are not on the list for harassment.

To decide whether conduct had that effect, a tribunal looks at how you saw it, the other circumstances, and whether it was reasonable for it to have that effect.

What changes on 30 October?

Before 30 October 2026 the Equality Act had no rule making employers responsible for harassment of staff by customers or clients. The old rule was removed in 2013.

Since 26 October 2024, employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, including by customers. But you cannot bring a claim for a breach of that duty on its own.

The new rule is different. It covers all the kinds of harassment above, not only sexual harassment, and you can bring an employment tribunal claim if your employer breaks it.

What about harassment by a colleague?

That was already covered. Anything a colleague does in the course of their work is treated as done by your employer too. Your employer has a defence if it took all reasonable steps to prevent it.

What you can do

• Tell your employer what happened, in writing if you can. Our grievance letter guide shows what to include.
• Since 6 April 2026, reporting sexual harassment can count as whistleblowing (a "protected disclosure"). Our whistleblowing guide explains when.
• Keep a note of dates, what was said or done, and who saw it.

Northern Ireland

The Equality Act 2010 does not apply in Northern Ireland, and this change does not apply there. Northern Ireland has its own equality law.

Sources: Equality Act 2010, sections 26, 40, 40A, 109 and 120; Employment Rights Act 2025, section 21; Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement regulations (SI 2026/1065), regulation 3 (30 October 2026 start), all on legislation.gov.uk; Acas, early conciliation.