Third-party harassment law

The coalition government has proposed that the third party harassment provisions in the Equality Act 2010 should be repealed, to cut ‘unnecessary red tape’. The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill received a second reading in the House of Lords on 14 November 2012 to remove this section of the Act.

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will remove employer liability for harassment of employees by third parties such as service users or contractors – a provision brought in by the Equality Act 2010. The coalition government has decided to go ahead with this reform, despite a consultation that revealed that the public was highly critical of any such appeal.

I think people could be forgiven for cynicism on the part of the government to genuinely listen to the views of the public. However, there is nothing to stop colleges and other providers from implementing action to actively avoid third party harassment. It raises the issue about whether organisations want to follow the ‘letter’ of the law or the ‘ethos’ of the law.

Take a look at my briefing on the Equality Act on my resources page for further information about third party harassment.

To read more about the reform bill, click here