What is Third Party Harassment?

Louise Petty

October 25, 2024

4 min read

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’s 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’ll outline what third party harassment is, give some examples of it and discuss a few ways to prevent third party harassment at work.

What is Third Party Harassment at Work?

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.

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.

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.

It’s 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.

Third Party Harassment – Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 defines harassment as any sort of behaviour that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person.

In terms of the law, harassment is unwanted behaviour based on someone’s protected characteristics: their age, disability, gender, marital/civil partnership status, pregnancy, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.

Even if a person’s behaviour isn’t intended to be intimidating, humiliating or hostile to the recipient, it can still violate their dignity and create an offensive environment for them. What’s important to consider is the victim’s perspective 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.

It’s 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’ health, safety and wellbeing whilst at work, so taking action to prevent harassment would more likely fall under this responsibility.

If the third party harassment is sexual in nature, however, then the Worker Protection Act 2023 might apply. This recent amendment to the Equality Act puts a requirement on employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace – including by third parties.

Third Party Harassment Examples

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:

A customer in a shop or restaurant.
A passenger on a bus, train or plane.
A guest in a hotel or B&B.
A client in a meeting or at a conference
A client or customer via email or social media.
A visitor to the business.
A supplier or delivery driver.
A contractor working on the premises.
A patient in hospital or on a home visit.
A pupil or parent at a school.

A few examples of signs of third party harassment to look out for include:

Verbal insults, inappropriate jokes, teasing or unwanted ‘banter’.
Threats or intimidating language, either verbally or in writing.
Aggressive behaviour, including swearing, shouting and physical violence.
Sexual harassment, such as receiving unsolicited images or videos, unwelcome sexual advances, repeatedly asking someone on a date or unwanted physical touch.
Discriminatory behaviour based on an employee’s protected characteristics.

How to Prevent Third Party Harassment at Work

Employers have overall responsibility for preventing third party harassment in the workplace but employees also have a role to play in identifying and reporting it.

Third Party Harassment Policy

Employers should have a clear harassment policy in place that defines what harassment and third party harassment is, how to report it and guidance on what happens next. Having a clear third party harassment policy shows to everyone that it’s not tolerated and that the business will take all reports of harassment seriously.

The third party harassment policy should be communicated to all members of staff but also shared with any third party the business deals with, such as clients, suppliers and contractors. Sharing the policy helps to strengthen the message within it: that the organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and will take action where necessary.

The third party harassment policy can also include guidance for employees on high-risk situations, such as how to stay safe when lone working, night working, travelling for work or when meeting new clients.

Third Party Harassment Training

Carrying out regular training on what harassment is, how to prevent it and how to report it is essential for all members of staff. Not only does regular training help to raise awareness of the issue, but it also keeps it in the forefront of peoples’ minds, making them more likely to report it.

Examples of harassment training include High Speed Training’s Sexual Harassment Training Course For Managers and Supervisors, Sexual Harassment Training For Employees and Workplace Bullying & Harassment Training.

Immediate Action and Zero-Tolerance

It’s essential that employers have a zero-tolerance approach to third party harassment and take steps to address it immediately after a report is made. Taking immediate action shows that the organisation takes the situation seriously, helps to prevent the situation from escalating and protects the health and safety of the employee affected.

Examples of actions to take in cases of harassment might include removing the employee from the situation, enhancing security measures or ending business relationships.

Third Party Harassment: Employee Responsibilities

Whilst employers have overall responsibility for preventing and dealing with third party harassment, all workers can play their part in protecting themselves and others.

For example, employees should be encouraged to:

Be assertive about their boundaries with third parties and communicate clearly, yet professionally, if these boundaries are crossed.
Call out any harassing behaviours from a third party, whether they’re directed at themselves or at a colleague.
Not participate in or encourage any behaviours from a third party when the recipient is clearly showing the behaviour is unwanted.
Immediately report any instances of third party harassment of their manager or supervisor so that it can be handled appropriately.

Third party harassment is any sort of unwanted behaviour directed towards an employee by someone outside of the business, such as a customer or client. All organisations have a responsibility to protect the health and wellbeing of their staff members, and part of this duty involves preventing third party harassment in the workplace. If the business adopts a zero-tolerance approach towards harassment, then it’s much less likely to occur.

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Human Resources