{"id":76602,"date":"2024-10-25T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/?p=76602"},"modified":"2025-01-21T16:58:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T16:58:56","slug":"third-party-harassment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/third-party-harassment\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Third Party Harassment?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Everyone in the workplace has the right to be treated with dignity and respect and feel comfortable whilst at work, so harassment should never be tolerated, especially if it\u2019s instigated by someone outside of the business. Employers have a duty of care towards their employees and should do all they can to protect and maintain their wellbeing, and this includes taking steps to prevent third party harassment in the workplace. In this article, we\u2019ll outline what third party harassment is, give some examples of it and discuss a few ways to prevent third party harassment at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Worker Protection Act 2023 Training<\/h3><\/div><\/div>

The Worker Protection Act 2023 came into force in October 2024. The Act places a new legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Our Sexual Harassment Training for Employees<\/a> and Sexual Harassment Training for Managers<\/a> training courses have been updated to cover the new protections and help you fulfil your legal duties.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What is Third Party Harassment at Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Harassment at work is any sort of behaviour directed at an employee that is intended to intimidate, humiliate, undermine or create an offensive environment for them. It can have serious consequences for victims, including mental health problems like depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third party harassment at work refers to any sort of harassment towards an employee instigated by someone outside of the workplace. For example, harassment towards a worker by a customer, client, supplier, contractor, delivery driver, patient or parent. These third parties are not employed by the same organisation as the victim but regularly come into contact with them through their course of work.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Anyone in the workplace can find themselves victim to third party harassment, but those who interact with members of the public regularly are more at risk. For example, customer service staff, retail workers, healthcare employees and school staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s vital that employers take third party harassment seriously and quickly respond to any reports they receive from their employees in order to investigate the allegation thoroughly and take appropriate measures to address it. If not acknowledged by the business, harassment can result in workers struggling to perform their roles effectively, leaving their job roles or resenting the organisation they work for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third Party Harassment – Equality Act 2010<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Equality Act 2010<\/a> defines harassment as any sort of behaviour that has the purpose or effect of violating a person\u2019s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of the law, harassment is unwanted behaviour <\/strong>based on someone\u2019s protected characteristics: their age, disability, gender, marital\/civil partnership status, pregnancy, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if a person\u2019s behaviour isn\u2019t intended to be intimidating, humiliating or hostile to the recipient, it can still violate their dignity and create an offensive environment for them. What\u2019s important to consider is the victim\u2019s perspective<\/strong> of the harassment. For example, a contractor may state that their jokes were harmless but the employee may feel degraded as a result, making it unwanted behaviour and therefore harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n

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It\u2019s important to note that there are no provisions within the Equality Act that refer to third party harassment specifically. Employers have a responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act to protect their employees\u2019 health, safety and wellbeing whilst at work, so taking action to prevent harassment would more likely fall under this responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the third party harassment is sexual in nature, however, then the Worker Protection Act 2023<\/a> might apply. This recent amendment to the Equality Act puts a requirement on employers to take \u2018reasonable steps\u2019 to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace – including by third parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Third Party Harassment Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Third party harassment can be carried out by anyone outside of the organisation, including by customers, clients and suppliers to name just a few. More examples of people who can commit third party harassment include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n