A client made a pass at Jade. Not subtle. Not once.
Jade works at Watkins & Co — 45 staff, three sites, 26 years in business. She was at a client summer drinks event, being friendly, representing the firm well, when it happened.
She laughed it off in the moment, because that’s what you do when you’re junior and the client pays the bills. She didn’t laugh it off afterwards. She’s raised it formally.
From October this year, the rules around moments like this get a lot tougher. Employers become directly liable for harassment by clients and third parties — not just colleagues — if they haven’t taken all reasonable steps to prevent it. Not some steps. All of them.
No training. No client conduct policy. No briefing before the event. That’s not a grey area. That’s a tribunal finding compensation can be increased by 25% — with no cap on what’s awarded.
⚠️ WHAT “ALL REASONABLE STEPS” ACTUALLY MEANS
1. Real training, not a line in the handbook — staff need to know what harassment looks like and how to report it
2. A clear conduct policy for client-facing events — the duty now covers third parties, not just colleagues
3. Evidence you acted before something happened — not a policy written the week after
This is exactly why we built our Preventing Sexual Harassment training session.
Don’t leave the leave management process to one person.