Safecall

## **Employment Rights Act 2025 webinar series - session 5**

Most organisations preparing for all reasonable steps duty, which comes into force I n October 2026, have been focused on what happens inside their workforce. But the Employment Rights Act introduces a liability that extends well beyond it.

From October, UK employers will be responsible for harassment of their employees by third parties – including clients, customers, contractors and visitors - across all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Not just sexual harassment - any harassment. And the standard is the same: all reasonable steps.

This is the change that is most consistently underestimated. For organisations where employees interact regularly with clients, customers or the public, it is one of the most significant new exposures they face.

The challenge is that the tools most organisations reach for - policies, training, reporting channels - are designed with internal behaviour in mind. They do not always reach the environments where third-party harassment most commonly occurs - a client site, a shop floor, a supplier dinner, an industry event... These are precisely the settings where most organisations have the least visibility and the least protection.

In this session we explore what all reasonable steps looks like for third-party harassment, what organisations in high-exposure sectors are doing in practice, and what needs to be in place before October.

**What you will learn**

*   What the third-party harassment liability actually covers - and what surprises most organisations when they look closely
*   Which sectors and roles carry the greatest exposure
*   What all reasonable steps looks like when you cannot control the environment
*   Practical steps organisations can take before October
*   How organisations can get meaningful visibility of a risk that sits outside the usual reporting picture

**Who should attend**

Any organisation with employees who interact regularly with clients, customers, contractors or the public. Particularly relevant for HR Directors, General Counsel, compliance and risk professionals, and operations leads in retail, hospitality, professional services, construction and logistics.
