Sexual Harassment – An Urgent Priority for the Hospitality Industry

Recent months have seen story after story emerge in the news about sexual harassment. As we explore in this article, it is more important now than ever before for hospitality employers to take active steps to tackle this issue head-on.

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Sexual harassment occurs where someone engages in unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which either violates the recipient's dignity, or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. For example, this could include sexual comments (including via social media), making a sexual advance, unwanted touching, or sexual assault/rape.

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Sexual harassment is a particular problem in the hospitality industry. According to a 2021 survey by the trade union Unite, almost half (47%) of hospitality workers have experienced sexual harassment, whereas more than two-thirds (69%) had witnessed it. For example, in one recent case, a waitress was sexually harassed by a colleague giving her a lift to work. In another case, a female bar tender was awarded £10,000 after her boss told her to wear a push-up bra to get more tips.

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Particular risk factors in the hospitality sector include the high levels of young and female workers, alcohol consumption within hospitality spaces and a ‘customer is king’ culture. Whilst these risk factors may partially explain ‘why’ the hospitality sector has a sexual harassment problem, they do not ‘excuse’ hospitality employers from acting. Since October 2024, employers have had a positive duty to take reasonable preventative steps to protect employees from sexual harassment. Where a sexual harassment complaint is upheld, the employee's compensation can be increased by up to 25% if the employer has failed to take reasonable preventative steps.

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From October 2026, compliance will get even tougher for hospitality employers because of two pending legal changes under the Employment Rights Bill. Firstly, employers will need to take ‘all’ reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, which is a much higher hurdle to surmount. Secondly, protection against third-party harassment (both sexual and other forms) will be reintroduced, with the employer facing liability if it has failed to take ‘all’ reasonable steps to prevent this harassment from occurring. This will potentially hit hospitality employers hard in a ‘the customer is always right’ culture which has traditionally tolerated poor behaviour.

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In recent years, the EHRC has also shown itself far more willing to take enforcement action, with both McDonald's and, more recently, Lidl being required to enter into binding agreements with the regulator to take steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff.

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This changing risk landscape means now is the perfect time for hospitality employers to consider whether they are currently doing enough to reduce the risk your staff will be sexually harassed and, if necessary, ramp up preventative action. What amounts to reasonable steps will vary from business to business, but priority actions include conducting risk assessments, implementing mitigating measures, updating employment policies, ensuring managers and staff are given training to ensure they don’t engage in harassment and know how to handle situations where they are the victim, and reviewing sexual harassment reporting mechanisms. Failing to get these preventative measures right could lead to costly mistakes.

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We recently hosted a webinar in collaboration with Focal Point Training and Consultancy Ltd, considering what proactive preventative steps employers should take. It's packed with practical insights and guidance – click here to register (it's free) and a copy of the recording will be sent to you.