Third-party harassment rule repealed

From this October, the rule brought in by the Equality Act 2010, which made employers liable if staff were harassed by customers on three occasions or more, has been scrapped.

Third-party harassment is harassment of a worker on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation by a customer or other person who is not a fellow employee.

The 2010 Act made employers liable for such harassment if it had happened on at least two previous occasions and the employer had failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.

An employer’s liability for third-party harassment now returns to being governed by the case law on discrimination and harassment in employment.

www.ier.org.uk/blog/what-experts-say-employment-law-update