Harassment by third parties

Until its repeal on 1 October 2013, section 40 of the Equality Act 2010 contained specific provisions to protect workers from harassment by third parties such as suppliers and customers. The legislation was aimed, in particular, at protecting front-line staff such as careworkers, teachers and nurses from abuse, and its repeal was strongly resisted by unions and other equality campaigners. The repeal was made under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.

Section 40 provided a claim against the employer for acts of harassment by a third party on at least three occasions where the employer knew of the harassment and failed to take reasonably practicable steps to prevent it. Despite the repeal, there may be other ways of enforcing a right to protection against third party harassment, such as by arguing that the employer’s failure to protect the worker is a breach of the general anti-harassment duty under section 26 of the EA 10. For more information see LRD’s annual employment law guide Law at Work.

In an extreme case, a worker may be able to bring a case under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (see page 189).