Pub 30 October action sheet
For pubs in England and Wales only.
Since 26 October 2024, employers have had to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff. From 30 October 2026, employers must take all reasonable steps, and must not permit harassment of staff by customers and other third parties.
Answer 10 short questions about your pub. You get a one page action list to print, dated today. It takes about five minutes.
Your answers are not sent to us or stored. They stay on this device. No email is needed.
Pub 30 October action sheet
This week
Before 30 October 2026
Keep doing
Example lines for bar staff
Example wording for employers in England and Wales. Adapt it to your venue. Templates and general information, not legal advice.
- "Please don't speak to our staff like that. If it carries on, I will ask you to leave."
- "That is not OK here. I am going to get the manager now."
- "I have asked you to stop. Please leave now."
- If anyone is in danger or a crime is happening, call 999 straight away.
What happens next
Print the sheet or save it as a PDF. Put it on the staff board or keep it with your other papers. Tick each line off when it is done, and look at it again when something changes.
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If you want the written documents behind these steps, the Harassment Duty Kit has an editable policy, risk assessment, action plan, door and bar scripts and incident logs, in Word, PDF and Excel. £79 one-off. See the kit
The law in brief
Since 26 October 2024, employers have had to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff. From 30 October 2026, employers must take all reasonable steps, and must not permit harassment of staff by customers and other third parties (Employment Rights Act 2025 s20 to s22, in force under SI 2026/1065).
Since 6 April 2026, reporting sexual harassment can count as a protected whistleblowing disclosure (Employment Rights Act 2025 s23).
The Equality and Human Rights Commission can take enforcement action.
A tribunal can increase sexual harassment compensation by up to 25% if the employer breached the duty (Equality Act 2010 s124A).
Sources
- EHRC employer 8 step guide to preventing sexual harassment at work
- EHRC technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work
- Acas: sexual harassment
- Employment Rights Act 2025 s20, s21, s23
- SI 2026/1065 and SI 2026/323
- Equality Act 2010 s124A
Law as at 13 October 2026.