Surety Hospitality Briefing
From 30 October, you're expected to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work — and you can be liable for harassment of your staff by customers and suppliers if you haven't. That's a higher bar than the old “reasonable steps” test.
If you've been working towards 1 October, good news: the date has changed to 30 October, giving you a little more time to get everything in place.
Give us a call and we can talk you through what you need to do to keep your business compliant and your teams safe.
Training is one of the first things a tribunal will look for when deciding whether you took “all reasonable steps”. With the deadline on 30 October, sessions need to be booked now to be done in time.
Our harassment prevention training has been newly rewritten for this autumn's changes. It covers the new duty in full, harassment by third parties including customers and suppliers, what “all reasonable steps” means on a busy shift, what preventative steps should be taken, and how managers should handle and record a complaint. It's built for hospitality — bars, restaurants, hotels and events — so your team can put it straight into practice.
Every session comes with attendance records, a certificate of attendance and a summary of what was covered, giving you the evidence you'll need if you're ever asked. Dates before 30 October are limited: reply to this email today to secure yours.
From 1 October 2026, right to work checks aren't just for employees. Under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, you now need to check anyone who works for you personally, including casual and zero-hours workers, freelancers such as chefs and managers, event staff, and self-employed people you engage directly (cleaners, maintenance and trades, DJs and musicians, brand ambassadors). Delivery drivers and gig workers may also be in scope, depending on the platform contract.
Liability now stretches further too. If you use agencies or labour providers, you could be at risk even where someone else recruited the worker. Get written confirmation that checks have been done, keep the evidence, and make sure your supplier contracts give you the right to audit.
What hasn't changed: genuine independent businesses are still out of scope. That means tradespeople running their own business and contractors working through their own limited company. The way you do the check (manual, online or digital) is also the same.
What about people already working for you? The new rules apply to engagements that start on or after 1 October, so you don't have to go back and check everyone retrospectively. But if someone has time-limited permission to work, their follow-up check falls under the new rules, and it's sensible to review any ongoing casual or freelance arrangements anyway.
What to do now: list everyone who works for you but isn't an employee, make sure anyone newly engaged is checked before they start work, update your onboarding process, and brief the managers who book casual and freelance staff. Contact Surety if you'd like help working out who's in scope.
New trade union rules are coming in this autumn. Employers will need to inform workers they have the right to join a union, and unions will gain rights to access workplaces to recruit and represent members.
Government guidance is still pending, so the exact wording isn't settled yet. It's likely to mean updates to onboarding packs and staff handbooks. Contact Surety for a short briefing on what notices you'll need to give and which contract or handbook wording to amend.
Since 1 October, most employment tribunal claims can be brought up to six months after the event, rather than three.
In practice, decisions you make this autumn can still turn into claims well into next spring. Good notes and a fair process matter more than ever.
The government's public consultation on the revised tipping code of practice closes on 30 October. If you want to feed in your views on how tips should be shared and reported, this is the window.
Nothing changes in your policy yet — but it's worth checking your current tipping policy is written down and that staff know how it works, so you're ready when the new code lands.
Once the consultation closes on 30 October, the government is expected to publish an updated tipping code of practice.
When it lands, compare it against your current policy — especially how tips are split between roles, how you tell staff about it, and how often you review it.
Zero-hours contract reform is coming in 2027, including a right for qualifying workers to be offered guaranteed hours that reflect what they regularly work. How much that affects you will depend on your workforce and your records.
Now is a good time to check your time and attendance system. Does it accurately track actual hours worked, by person, week by week? Could you pull a 12-week picture for any zero-hours worker quickly? If the answer is “not really”, fix it before next year rather than during it.
If you rely on zero-hours or casual staff, our zero-hours contract reform audit looks at your contracts, rotas and hours data and tells you plainly who is likely to be affected by the changes, and what to do about it.
Good records are a great starting point, but they're only part of the preparation. Speak to us if you'd like support getting your contracts, rotas and processes ready for the changes ahead.
The new tipping code of practice is expected to take effect in December, alongside the requirement to consult workers on your tipping policy and review it regularly.
With the Christmas rush about to hit, this is an easy one to let slip. Once the new code is out, carve out some dedicated time to read it properly and give your tipping policy the attention it needs, before service gets busy. We'll help you make sense of what's changed.
From 1 January 2027, employees can claim ordinary unfair dismissal after six months' service, rather than two years. Anyone you hired from July 2026 onwards will reach that point in the new year.
Use December to look at your probation process: are reviews happening on time, are concerns properly documented, and do managers know to act well before the six-month mark rather than on the last day?
Employees will be able to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim after six months' service.
This change also means that if you wish to dismiss an employee with more than six months' service, it will be even more important to follow a fair process and your own disciplinary procedures before making a dismissal decision.
Dismissing staff to re-engage them on worse terms (“fire and rehire”) will become automatically unfair in most cases.
If you're thinking about changing contracts in the new year, talk to us first.
Workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts will gain the right to be offered guaranteed hours that reflect what they regularly work. The start date hasn't been confirmed yet.
Nothing to do yet beyond getting your hours data in order and carrying out your zero-hours audit (see November). We'll confirm the date as soon as it's announced.
· Hospitality Sector Briefing
October 2026 · Issue 1