An employer will not currently be liable under the Equality Act 2010 for harassment of its employees by a third party (for example, a client or supplier).
If an employer fails to take action in response to complaints about a third party, the employer itself could be found to have harassed the employee if the failure to act was because of a protected characteristic. For example, trivialising a female employee’s complaints about third-party sexual harassment and taking no action to prevent it could in itself amount to harassment. This is known as “vicarious liability”
Employees who have been subjected to harassment by a third party may be able to bring a constructive dismissal claim against their employer, if they resign and claim that the employer’s failure to protect them amounts to a breach of contract. An employer could also be liable for negligence if the employee suffered mental and/or physical injury because of harassment by a third party that the employer could reasonably have foreseen and prevented or reduced the amount of harassment/mental or physical damage.
A new positive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment comes into force from 27th October 2024, and it’s arguable that this includes prevention of harassment by third parties. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will be able to take enforcement action against an employer in relation to the new duty.
Employers should ensure that they continue to take all reasonably practicable steps to prevent any harassment of employees, and this would include conducting a risk assessment and regular training for employees, and in particular your managers, to prevent sexual harassment.
How can we help?
We can conduct an audit to identify the risks of Sexual Harassment in your business, and provide you with recommendations to reduce or eliminate those risks, helping you to implement our recommendations if required. Get in touch with us for further information via help@merakihr.com
You can book your managers onto one of our Training sessions on How to prevent Sexual Harassment in the Workplace which run on 17th October or the 29th November here; https://www.merakihr.com/workshops/
