Harassment by third parties · Manufacturing

Drivers, contractors, visitors. Your staff deal with all of them.

Your site sees people from other companies every day. Hauliers at the dock, contractors on a shutdown, a supplier's engineer on the line, a customer being shown round. Your staff work alongside them, sometimes for days at a time.

What's changing?

The government has announced that from 30 October 2026, you'll be liable when one of your staff is harassed at work by a person you don't employ, unless you took all reasonable steps to prevent it. That reaches harassment related to any relevant protected characteristic, not just sexual harassment. There's no cap on discrimination compensation.

Where does it happen?

Contractors are the one to think about. They're on your site, often for weeks, working next to your people, eating in your canteen, and answering to someone else. Add the dock, the visitor who thinks a comment's harmless, and the night shift with fewer managers about.

What could you show?

Does your contractor induction cover how contractors treat your staff, or only safety? Does your harassment policy mention people you don't employ? If one of your team had a problem with a contractor, who would they tell, and what would happen? Has anyone ever asked your staff?

What we do

We build your staff handbook, a harassment risk assessment that covers contractors, drivers and visitors on your site, and an anonymous survey of your staff. We keep them current. Everything's dated and filed, built to show what you did, when you did it and why. It's done remotely. No calls.

We don't give legal advice, and we don't investigate complaints. If you've got one open, take it to a solicitor.