Pub landlords will be turned into ‘talking police’ under the labor harassment law

Pub landlords will be turned into ‘banter police’ under workers’ rights reforms, business leaders have warned.

Provisions in the Employment Rights Bill mean that equality laws will be updated to make employers liable for staff who are offended by “third parties” such as customers or members of the public.

The laws would introduce a legal obligation for companies and public bodies to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment by third parties in relation to a “protected characteristic” such as gender, gender reassignment or age.

Free speech campaigners have warned that this measure is the government’s “latest salvo in its ongoing war on freedom of expression” and will result in pub staff having to act as the “banter police” banning customers for making “inappropriate ” tell jokes.

Scholars also fear that the legislation will also have a ‘chilling effect’ on academic freedom, as it means university authorities will be more likely to pander to ‘no-platform’ controversial guest speakers for fear of a lawsuit.

Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality, said staff in restaurants, bars, pubs and hotels work in a “social environment” where “jokes are made and people are boisterous”.

While everyone wants to ensure their staff are protected, she said we “don’t want to police the behavior of our customers”, adding that she is keen to work with ministers to ensure there are no “inappropriate restrictions” on customers are imposed.

Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow business secretary, said: “Running a business is hard enough – even defending yourself in an employment tribunal can cost tens of thousands of pounds. We all know this agenda is driven by wokeness and the unions.

“Ronald Regan once said that if fascism ever returns, it will be in the name of liberalism. The people who are supposedly the greatest defenders of fundamental freedoms and who are eager to throw away fundamental rights – whether it be property, the rule of law and freedom of expression – if it does not correspond to their own views.”