Labour’s forthcoming Employment Rights Bill contains a clause that would force employers to “take all reasonable steps” to stop customers harassing their staff. 
Backers say the measure will protect bar workers, shop assistants and NHS staff from abuse, but critics fear it could create a new breed of “banter bouncers” hired to police conversations in pubs and clubs — a sector already closing at an alarming rate.
Why it matters
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Safety first: A TUC poll found that three in five women have faced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse at work, underlining the need for tougher rules.
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Cost concerns: With six pubs and three night-clubs shutting every week, owners say they can’t afford extra security staff just to monitor language. Ambiguity: The bill leaves it to each venue to decide what counts as “harassment,” raising fears of uneven enforcement and confusion at the door.
A Door Supervisors view
George Bass, an SIA-licensed door supervisor who contributed to the debate, says real-world security focuses on spiking, under-age drinking and unruly behaviour — not overheard swear-words. Trying to referee every joke once people have “had their first few gulps of loose juice,” he argues, could drive customers away and hasten more closures.
Generational twist
Young adults aged 18-34 make up the single biggest slice of the pub crowd (28 per cent), yet a quarter of them already prefer texting to talking. Bass quips that any serious language-policing might be better left to algorithms than to door staff armed with clipboards.
What happens next
MPs return from summer recess in early September, when Labour is expected to reintroduce the bill. Hospitality groups are lobbying for clearer guidance — and for help footing any extra security bill — before the plan becomes law. Until then, Britain’s bouncers will keep watching the door, but probably not your banter.
Source – The Independent
