From Friday 30 October 2026 the law changes so an employer is liable when customers harass its staff, unless it took all reasonable steps to stop it. In a pub that's the regular who won't take no for an answer, or the comment across the bar at closing time. Then from 1 January 2027 anyone who has worked for you for six months can claim unfair dismissal, down from two years. Neither needs a solicitor to get ready for. Both need paperwork, and most pubs haven't started.
I'm a licensee, not an employment lawyer. Everything below comes from the government's own business guidance and Acas, with the pub bits worked through. If you're about to dismiss somebody, ring Acas or get proper advice first.
The dates
| Date | What changes |
|---|---|
| 6 April 2026 (already in) | Statutory Sick Pay from the first full day off sick, for everyone, whatever they earn |
| 1 October 2026 (already in) | Time to bring most tribunal claims doubled from 3 months to 6 |
| 30 October 2026 | "All reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment. Liability for harassment by customers and other third parties. Unions can ask for access to workplaces |
| 1 January 2027 | Unfair dismissal after 6 months instead of 2 years. Compensation cap removed. Written statement of the right to join a union for new starters |
| 5 April 2027 | Union statement given to staff already employed |
30 October: when customers harass your staff
Since October 2024 employers have had to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. From 30 October that becomes all reasonable steps, meaning everything that's reasonable for a business your size, not just something. And for the first time you must not permit third parties to harass your staff.
Third party means anyone your staff deal with at work who doesn't work for you. Customers, a delivery driver, the band, the bloke fixing the cellar cooler. It covers harassment related to any protected characteristic under the Equality Act, so race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and the rest, not only sexual harassment. The two exceptions are pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnership. It applies in England, Wales and Scotland, not Northern Ireland.
Your defence is showing you took all reasonable steps. Acas lists the kind of thing it means: risk assessments, recording incidents, a policy, training, customer notices about what happens to people who harass staff, and in higher-risk places adequate staffing, security staff and cameras. It also says something I'd underline: write down why you decided a step wasn't reasonable for you. That note is evidence too.
What all reasonable steps looks like behind a bar
- A one-page policy that names customers. Who staff tell, what happens next, and that management will back them. Every member of staff reads it and signs it, including the Saturday casuals.
- A notice where customers can see it. Something like: "Our staff have the right to work here without being harassed. Anyone who does it will be refused service and barred." It costs a laminator pouch.
- Every incident in the log. Same book or app as refusals and fights, written up on the shift it happens. What to record is in my incident log guide.
- Somebody with authority on every shift. Staff need to know who can refuse service or ask someone to leave, and that they won't be overruled because the customer spends a lot.
- Nobody closing alone on the nights you already know are trouble. Acas names lone working as something to review.
- Ask your staff. Ten minutes at the next staff meeting: who are the customers you dread serving? You'll learn more in ten minutes than from any template.
Here's the bit I haven't seen anyone suggest. Use the incident log as your risk assessment. At the end of each month, count the incidents by night and by hour. If six of the eight happened on a Friday after ten, that's where the extra body or the door staff go, and you've got a written, dated reason for every staffing decision you made. That's what "all reasonable steps" looks like on paper, and it's the same habit as counting stock: you can't fix what you haven't counted.
1 January 2027: six months, not two years
For any dismissal where employment ends on or after 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal drops from two years to six months, and so does the right to ask for written reasons. The cap on compensation goes. Anything that ends before 1 January stays on the old two-year rule. The day-one protections, such as discrimination and the automatically unfair reasons, don't change.
Two details catch people out. Statutory notice counts as service whether you give it or not, and for anyone employed between a month and two years that's one week. And not renewing a fixed-term contract still counts as a dismissal, so a summer contract that isn't renewed after six months now needs a fair reason too.
What it means in a pub: anyone who started with you this summer crosses six months during the winter. A Christmas temp you keep on crosses in the spring. Get the rota out and write each person's six-month date next to their name. That's the date by which you want any problem raised, written down and dealt with properly, not the date you find out about.
You can still dismiss for conduct or performance after six months. You just need a fair reason and a fair process, and the Acas code of practice is the standard a tribunal holds you to. Some operators are already shortening probation to fit: at the MA Leaders conference on 22 October, Barons Pub Company said it had cut probation to four months, and Hickory's had cut it from six months to three.
If the problem is stock or the till
This is where pubs get it wrong. "The till's always down when she's on" is a hunch. A tribunal wants records: till reports by user, a counted handover, line checks with dates on. And taking a shortfall out of someone's wages has its own rules, which are in the chargeback guide. If you don't count, you can't prove anything, and from January you'll need to prove it for a lot more of your staff.
Already in: sick pay from the first day
Since 6 April 2026 Statutory Sick Pay is paid from the first full day off sick, the three waiting days are gone, and the lower earnings limit has been removed, so part-timers on a few hours qualify. The rate is £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
Worked through: a part-timer doing 12 hours a week at £12.71 earns £152.52. 80% of that is £122.02, which is below £123.25, so that's their weekly rate. If they normally work two set shifts a week, one shift off sick costs you about £61, on top of whoever covers it. Check your payroll is doing this. Plenty of small pubs' payroll was set up years ago and still assumes the old rules.
The tribunal time limit doubling matters here too. Six months to bring a claim means six months' more need for your records, so don't bin rotas, timesheets and incident notes. My holiday pay guide covers the six-year working time records rule.
Unions: probably not you, but know the dates
From 30 October independent unions can ask employers for access to workplaces, in person or digitally. You'd have 15 working days to respond. The Central Arbitration Committee can only impose an access agreement where an employer has 21 or more workers across all its sites, so most single pubs are under it, though small groups may not be. From 1 January 2027 new starters must get a written statement of their right to join a union with their written particulars, and existing staff by 5 April 2027. The wording is due in regulations in November 2026.
What I'd do this week
- Write the one-page harassment policy and get it signed.
- Put the customer notice up before Friday 30 October.
- Start logging incidents, and count them by night at the end of the month.
- Write every staff member's six-month date on the rota.
- Change "three months" to "six months" anywhere your handbook mentions tribunal time limits, which the government guidance tells employers to do.
- Check payroll pays sick pay from day one.
Common questions
What changes for pubs on 30 October 2026?
Employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of staff, and become liable for harassment of staff by third parties such as customers unless they took all reasonable steps to prevent it. It covers harassment related to any protected characteristic except pregnancy and maternity and marriage and civil partnership.
Is a pub liable if a customer harasses a member of staff?
From 30 October 2026, yes, unless the pub can show it took all reasonable steps to prevent it. Acas suggests risk assessments, recording incidents, a policy, training, customer notices and, where the risk is higher, adequate staffing, security and cameras.
When does six-month unfair dismissal start?
It applies to dismissals where employment ends on or after 1 January 2027. From then employees with six months' service can claim ordinary unfair dismissal instead of needing two years, and the compensation cap is removed. Statutory notice counts towards the six months.
Do part-time bar staff get statutory sick pay from day one?
Yes. Since 6 April 2026 SSP is paid from the first full day of sickness and the lower earnings limit has gone, so part-timers qualify. The rate is £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
How long do staff have to bring an employment tribunal claim?
Since 1 October 2026 the time limit for most claims is six months instead of three. For breach of contract claims in Scotland the change starts on 9 November 2026.
Sources
- 30 October 2026 changes, all reasonable steps, third parties such as customers, all Equality Act harassment except pregnancy and maternity and marriage and civil partnership, GB not NI: business.gov.uk, Workplace sexual harassment and third-party harassment, checked 24 October 2026.
- Who counts as a third party, examples of reasonable steps, recording why a step was not reasonable: Acas, Harassment law changes.
- Six months from 1 January 2027, written reasons, cap removed, effective date of termination rule, statutory notice counts as service, one week for 1 month to 2 years, fixed-term non-renewal, probation: business.gov.uk, Unfair dismissal rights.
- Tribunal time limit 3 to 6 months from 1 October 2026, Scotland contract claims 9 November 2026, update handbooks: business.gov.uk, Employment tribunal time limits.
- SSP from the first full day, lower earnings limit removed, from 6 April 2026: business.gov.uk, Statutory Sick Pay. £123.25 or 80% of earnings: gov.uk Statutory Sick Pay.
- Union access from 30 October, 15 working days, 21-worker threshold, union statement from 1 January 2027 and by 5 April 2027, regulations due November 2026: business.gov.uk, Trade union reform.
- Barons four-month probation, Hickory's six to three months: Morning Advertiser, Pubs adapt staff policies as employment law changes loom, 23 October 2026.
- £12.71 National Living Wage: gov.uk National Minimum Wage rates. The sick pay worked example, the incident-count idea and the checklist are my own arithmetic and opinion.