Time to tackle sexual harassment in hospitality

Fresh measures to deal with sexual harassment in hospitality businesses have been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and UKHospitality.

Fresh measures to deal with sexual harassment in hospitality businesses have been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and UKHospitality.

They were announced by the EHRC this week amid growing concerns that workplace bullying, and harassment are on the rise.

The new checklist and action plan focusses on communicating with staff, changing the workplace environment, and working practices.

Kate Palmer, HR Advice and Consultancy Director at Peninsula, says employers must proactively implement safeguarding measures to protect employees from sexual harassment.

“Sadly, harassment is quite common in the hospitality industry, so employers need to be vigilant and have measures in place to stop it from happening.

“These measures and policies are going to be crucial if we’re going to stamp out harassment in hospitality.

“Any organisation that doesn’t do this can suffer from vicarious liability, meaning employees can be successful in their tribunal claims for harassment or constructive dismissal, even if the misconduct did not directly come from someone in the organisation.”

According to the EHRC, potential trigger points for sexual harassment include deciding on hours for more junior staff and discussing how incentives are distributed.

Hospitality businesses, including pubs and restaurants are advised to ensure more than one person is deciding the rota, make sure that no one is working alone at any one time and that managers know what to do when issues arise.

Employers must also pay more attention to vulnerable staff, including those who don’t speak English as a first language, who are therefore less likely to report something.

Other ways businesses can reduce risk of harassment include policies for anonymous reporting of customer misbehaviour, posters to tell customers that harassment isn’t tolerated, and record any issues with customers.

Employees are being reminded that staff social activities are still associated with the workplace and so a zero-tolerance policy applies.

Read more

Latest News

Read More

Revealed – unbelievable real workplace safety fails

3 July 2025

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

Queen Mary University of London – Health and Safety DirectorateSalary: £43,677 to £51,040 per annum

University of Cambridge – Human Resources DivisionSalary: £33,482 to £39,355 per annum

University of Cambridge – Department of PathologySalary: £35,116 to £45,413 per annum

University of Exeter – PS ConnectSalary: The starting salary will be from £27,644 per annum pro rata on Grade D, depending on qualifications and experience.

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE