Important changes to workplace harassment law take effect tomorrow, 30 October. The reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 will require employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. They will also introduce new liability for harassment by third parties, including customers, clients, and contractors, where employers have failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. With the deadline now upon us, attention is turning to how employers can meet those obligations in practice, particularly in customer-facing businesses. We’ll speak to a D&I expert about how employers should approach that challenge.
Customer Experience Magazine highlights the scale of the problem facing frontline workers, citing research from the Institute of Customer Service showing that 42% of frontline workers experienced hostility over a six-month period. Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium’s 2026 crime report recorded around 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every day. The figures underline the pressures facing customer-facing staff, although not every incident would necessarily amount to harassment under the new law.
The article also raises an important question about whether employers’ own performance targets could be making matters worse. Measures such as call-handling times, customer satisfaction scores and complaint targets may discourage employees from ending abusive interactions. So an employer could have a clear anti-harassment policy, but its performance measures may be putting staff under pressure to tolerate behaviour they should be able to challenge.
And then there is the question of risk assessments. The article argues that these are central to meeting the new obligations, because employers need to understand where employees are exposed before deciding what preventative measures are appropriate. But assessing risk across a large organisation, with very different working environments and levels of customer contact, presents a practical challenge.
Kieron O’Reilly is a D&I consultant with Pinsent Masons’ Employment Plus team, and he joined me to discuss how employers should tackle that challenge. So Kieron, what’s the problem with a one-size-fits-all approach?
Kieron O’Reilly: “I think in practice, a one size fits all is potentially a waste of time and you can end up missing risk. By taking one size fits all and applying the same risk concerns across an entire organisation where they're different means a lot of time is wasted and also there was a serious danger of missing where the real risk sits, so we could end up missing risk. So, the one size fits all doesn't actually tackle the problem, or tackle the challenge, in a way that makes sense to make any changes or difference and deal with the risk.”
Joe Glavina: “So if a one-size-fits all approach is wrong, what does the right approach look like?”
Kieron O’Reilly: “So in reality, when we have a look at this, we have a look where risk sits. So, to give you an example, if you've got a lone worker at nighttime in a public facing role compared to someone who works in the office during the daytime in a fully populated office, clearly there are differences of risk there. Now I make quite an exaggeration with that description, but it makes the point. If you think about third party harassment and where those interactions happen, you can look at large retail environments, for example, and it would be fair to say, well, they're very much a public facing business model and, of course, that is true so they do have a high level risk but that doesn't apply across the entire organisation – there are functional logistics and many other parts of it. So, when we take a tiered approach, if you look at an organisation that is very public focused that's where you'd focus the risk considerations. It'll be less so in the office environment, and potentially less so in environments that have no public facing situations at all. So, there's no point doing all the work you would do with your frontline staff across the board for those who don't have the same responsibilities.”
Joe Glavina: “So from a leadership perspective, what’s the message you want HR Directors to take to the board?”
Kieron O’Reilly: “I think the approach we've seen working is quite effective because, essentially, you're taking a measured approach to the different levels of risk, looking, and identifying what those risks are and, essentially, it creates a narrative and it's that narrative that really makes sense to the board. They can see what the level of risk is, what the proportionate responses would be, and also what the benefit to doing those would be and I think those things together make it much easier for boards to understand the reasons for it, and the benefits, and are much more comfortable with sanctioning budgets and putting in practices that the HR director’s team are going to suggest are made. So, I think it gives the good narrative, it gives a clear explanation, and it's easy to see where the benefits come from.”
Joe Glavina: “Finally Kieron, what’s your key message to HR professionals watching this?”
Kieron O’Reilly: “I think take that step back and consider your tiered approach. I think the three levels, if you look at, say, low, medium, and high. It doesn't need a huge sort of set of definitions. A quite simple approach is just looking at things like your locations of operation, the roles, responsibilities, and level of third party engagement and we're talking contractors, it could be customers, members of the public, depending on what industry you're in. Having a look at it from that point of view, and considering what you've already got in place, and, from that you'll probably find the are some easy steps to take forward that can make sure that not only you're meeting this new obligation as it's coming through, but using it to your advantage so that it benefits everyone involved and I think that approach, with a clear narrative, makes it a very specific, focused, and effective way of meeting these measures and gaining the best from them.”
With the new duties taking effect tomorrow, employers should be checking where the risks are greatest and whether their existing safeguards are adequate. If you’d like advice on preparing for the changes, please contact Kieron – his details are there on the screen for you.
