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Harassment risk assessment for cafés and restaurants

Since 26 Oct 2024 employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. From 30 October 2026 the requirement becomes all reasonable steps, and employers must not permit harassment by third parties (Employment Rights Act 2025 s20/s21). In a café or restaurant the risks often sit with customer-facing roles, the kitchen pass, late finishes, and staff working alone.

A risk assessment does not need to be long. List the situations that are real in your place: a quiet afternoon with one server, a busy lunch service, a private function. Note whether the risk comes from colleagues or from customers. Then write the steps you will take: a short policy, a second reporting route, a briefing for shift leaders, and a review once or twice a year.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission expects employers to think about the risks before an incident happens. A page of honest notes is more useful than a generic form with every box marked low. Keep the notes with the rest of your records so you can show what you considered.

The plain-English guide on this site explains the duty and the practical steps for a small site. The worked example shows how the same points can look on a checklist. Both pages link the official sources.

The Harassment Duty Kit includes an editable risk assessment along with the policy, scripts and logs. A single site licence is £79. Groups of up to three sites can take the £159 licence, which adds an example three-site risk assessment and a cross-site briefing log. 30-day no-quibble refund: reply to your receipt. The paperwork is for England and Wales only and is not legal advice.

Read the guide: the harassment duty in 2026. See the worked example: harassment-duty checklist for a 40-cover pub. View the kit on the product page.