Industry News & Compliance · 12-minute read
Scaffolding contractors face new employment law responsibilities from 30 October 2026, including stronger protections against workplace harassment and changes to trade union access rights.
The changes form part of the Employment Rights Act 2025 and affect businesses across England, Scotland and Wales.
For scaffolding companies, the implications are particularly relevant. Operatives regularly work on customers' properties, alongside other trades, under principal contractors and across multiple construction sites. That creates situations where responsibility for behaviour, workplace access and employee protection can become complicated.
Here's what has changed, which businesses are affected and what scaffolding employers should do.
1. Employers Must Now Take All Reasonable Steps to Prevent Sexual Harassment
The first significant change strengthens the existing preventative duty on employers.
Since October 2024, employers have been required to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work.
From 30 October 2026, the requirement becomes taking all reasonable steps.
This means an employer needs to identify the preventative measures that are reasonable for its organisation and implement all of them, rather than selecting only some.
What counts as reasonable will depend on the size of the business, its resources, working arrangements and the risks employees face.
For example, a small scaffolding contractor with five employees may not require the same formal systems as a national scaffolding organisation operating across dozens of construction sites. However, both must take the steps that are reasonable in their circumstances.
Technical note: the duty to take all reasonable steps is specifically the preventative sexual harassment duty. The third-party provision (below) separately addresses harassment covered by the Equality Act 2010. Neither is an absolute guarantee that harassment can never occur — the legal test is whether the employer took all steps that were reasonable in the circumstances.
What does this mean on a scaffolding site?
Consider a scaffolding company employing ten operatives across several projects.
Employees may regularly interact with:
- Site managers and principal contractors.
- Bricklayers, roofers and other subcontractors.
- Property owners and residential customers.
- Agency workers and visiting suppliers.
- Supervisors working for other companies.
A business should assess the risks created by those interactions and ensure employees understand what constitutes unacceptable behaviour, how concerns can be raised and what happens when complaints are received.
A policy sitting in an office folder is unlikely to be sufficient on its own if staff have never been informed of it or trained appropriately.
Employers should consider including workplace conduct and reporting procedures in employee induction, supervisor training and ongoing site briefings — the same places many firms already capture RAMS acknowledgements and compliance records.
2. Scaffolding Companies Can Be Liable for Harassment by Third Parties
One of the most important changes for construction employers concerns third-party harassment.
From 30 October 2026, employers must not permit third parties to harass their employees in the course of employment.
Third parties can include customers, clients, homeowners, contractors, tradespeople and other individuals who do not work for the employer.
The protection covers sexual harassment and harassment relating to protected characteristics covered by the relevant Equality Act provisions, including race, disability, religion, sex and age.
An employer can be liable where harassment occurs and it failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.
Example: A scaffolder working at a customer's property
Imagine a scaffolding operative is erecting access scaffolding around a residential property.
During the work, the homeowner repeatedly makes offensive comments relating to the operative's race.
The operative reports the behaviour to their supervisor, but the supervisor dismisses the complaint and instructs them to continue working without addressing the issue.
Under the new third-party harassment provisions, the scaffolding employer could face liability if it failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.
The fact that the person responsible was a paying customer rather than an employee does not automatically remove the employer's responsibility.
Example: Harassment by another trade
A scaffolding gang is working on a large construction project alongside roofing and bricklaying contractors.
An employee experiences repeated sexual harassment from someone employed by another subcontractor.
The scaffolding employer should not simply assume that the principal contractor or the other subcontractor is solely responsible.
It needs to take reasonable preventative and responsive steps within its control, which could include raising concerns with site management, protecting the affected employee and escalating the matter through established procedures.
The key point: businesses must consider harassment risks beyond their own direct employees.
3. New Trade Union Workplace Access Rights
The Employment Rights Act 2025 also introduces a statutory framework giving independent trade unions rights to request workplace access.
From 30 October 2026, qualifying employers can receive formal requests from independent trade unions wishing to engage with workers.
Access can be physical, digital or a combination of both.
Where an agreement cannot be reached, either party may refer the matter to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), which can determine whether access should be granted and on what terms.
Importantly, the CAC cannot impose an access agreement under this regime on an employer with fewer than 21 workers across all its workplaces.
What counts as workplace access?
Depending on the agreed or determined arrangements, access might involve:
- A union representative meeting workers at an appropriate location.
- An employer facilitating an online meeting.
- A union communicating with workers through agreed digital channels.
- Access arrangements designed around shift patterns and operational requirements.
It does not mean union representatives have an unrestricted right to enter hazardous construction areas or disregard site safety requirements.
For scaffolding contractors, access arrangements need to account for the practical realities of the trade, including mobile gangs, site security, induction requirements and work at height — especially where crew scheduling and on-site field workflows already shape how gangs move between jobs.
Deadlines for responding to requests
Under the published government guidance for the new general workplace-access regime:
- Employers must respond to a formal access request within 15 working days.
- Employers and unions have 25 working days to negotiate an access agreement.
- Where agreement cannot be reached, the matter may be referred to the CAC.
Separate procedures and timescales apply during statutory trade union recognition proceedings.
For larger scaffolding businesses, it would be sensible to designate someone responsible for receiving and managing formal union correspondence.
4. Stronger Rights for Trade Union Representatives
Further changes strengthen protections for eligible workplace representatives.
These include rights concerning reasonable paid time off and appropriate facilities to carry out recognised trade union duties.
The reforms also extend certain protections against employer detriments connected with protected industrial action.
For example, an employer must not disadvantage a worker for the sole or main purpose of penalising, preventing or deterring participation in protected industrial action.
That does not prevent employers from making lawful, proportionate deductions for time spent taking industrial action.
Scaffolding businesses with recognised trade unions should review their existing arrangements, particularly around representatives' time off, access to facilities and communications with management.
5. What About Self-Employed Scaffolders and CIS Subcontractors?
Scaffolding frequently relies on a mixture of directly employed staff, subcontractors, agency labour and self-employed operatives.
It is important not to assume that everyone working under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) has the same legal employment status.
CIS is a tax scheme. It does not, by itself, determine whether someone is legally an employee, worker or genuinely self-employed contractor.
Employment law protections depend on the relevant statutory definitions and the reality of the working relationship.
The precise application of a particular duty or right may therefore differ between individuals.
For example, a genuinely self-employed subcontractor is not necessarily entitled to every protection available to an employee. However, someone described as self-employed may still qualify for employment protections depending on the actual arrangements.
Construction employers should also remember that subcontractors can be third parties whose behaviour creates harassment risks for directly employed workers.
Where businesses are uncertain about employment status, professional employment-law advice is advisable.
6. What Scaffolding Employers Should Do Now
The changes do not automatically mean every scaffolding company needs an expensive HR department or entirely new management system.
They do mean employers should be able to explain the steps they have taken to identify relevant risks, prevent harassment and meet their obligations.
A practical starting point is to review the following:
Workplace conduct and harassment policies
Check that policies address sexual harassment, harassment by third parties, reporting procedures and the responsibilities of managers and supervisors.
Employee induction and site briefings
Make sure operatives know how to report unacceptable behaviour, including conduct by clients or workers from other companies.
Risk assessments
Consider where employees may face increased risks, including lone working, residential projects, mixed-contractor sites, overnight work and workplace communications.
Reporting and incident records
Provide a confidential reporting route, record relevant concerns and document the action taken.
Supervisor training
Ensure supervisors understand how to respond appropriately to allegations and when to escalate concerns.
Client and subcontractor arrangements
Review whether contracts, site rules and communications make expected behaviour clear and provide appropriate procedures for dealing with complaints.
Trade union procedures
Where the new access framework applies, identify who will handle formal access requests and ensure statutory response deadlines are understood.
These are practical compliance measures, not a prescribed universal checklist. The law requires employers to take all steps that are reasonable for their circumstances.
Firms already preparing for Common Assessment Standard Version 6 may find the same documentation discipline useful here — organised policies, training records and evidence of how procedures are applied on site.
7. How Digital Record-Keeping Can Help
For scaffolding companies managing multiple sites, keeping accurate records can be challenging.
Important information may be spread across emails, paper folders, WhatsApp conversations and individual supervisors' phones.
A centralised operations system can help companies maintain organised records of matters such as:
- Employee inductions and training.
- Site documents and safety briefings.
- Incident reports and follow-up actions.
- Relevant company procedures.
- Supervisor responsibilities and project communications.
ScaffOps provides digital job management, document storage and crew workflows in the field, crew scheduling, and compliance workflows that can support more consistent administration.
However, software alone does not establish legal compliance. Businesses must still implement appropriate policies, train staff, respond properly to complaints and obtain professional advice where needed.
8. Frequently Asked Questions
Do the new employment laws apply to small scaffolding companies?
Yes. The strengthened sexual harassment duty and third-party harassment protections are not restricted to large employers. However, the new statutory trade union workplace-access framework has an exemption for employers with fewer than 21 workers across all workplaces.
Can a scaffolding employer be responsible for a customer's behaviour?
Potentially, yes. An employer can be liable for harassment by a customer or another third party where the relevant legal conditions are met and it failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.
Do scaffolders have to join a trade union?
No. The reforms do not make union membership compulsory.
Can a trade union enter any building site whenever it wants?
No. The new rights are subject to statutory procedures and access arrangements. They do not create unrestricted access to dangerous work areas.
Are all scaffolders working under CIS covered?
Not necessarily in the same way. CIS tax treatment does not settle employment status. The applicable protections depend on the law and the actual working arrangements.
Do companies need to rewrite all their policies?
Not automatically. Employers should review existing policies and procedures, identify gaps and make the changes reasonably necessary to satisfy their duties.
Conclusion: Employment Compliance Is Becoming a Bigger Part of Running a Scaffolding Business
The changes taking effect on 30 October 2026 extend beyond traditional HR administration.
They affect the way employers protect their workforce, manage relationships with third parties and respond to trade union requests.
For scaffolding contractors, where workers move between sites and regularly interact with people employed by other organisations, clear reporting procedures and consistent management practices are particularly important.
The priority is to understand which duties apply, assess the risks within the business and take appropriate, documented steps to address them.
Running a scaffolding business involves more than managing jobs and crews. Keeping workplace processes and compliance records organised is an important part of protecting employees and managing the business responsibly.
ScaffOps helps UK scaffolding businesses manage jobs, crews, documentation, inspections and day-to-day operations in one connected workspace. Explore ScaffOps scaffolding operations software, ScaffSafe™ compliance workflows, Scaff Field™ on-site documents and start a free trial when you're ready.
Sources and further reading
This article summarises employment law developments as at 30 October 2026 for England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has separate employment and equality legislation. This guide provides general information, not individual legal advice. Recheck primary sources if you are relying on the detail for operational decisions.
| Claim verified | Primary source |
|---|---|
| Commencement date: 30 October 2026 | Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement regulations (Legislation.gov.uk) |
| Employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment | Acas guidance updated 30 October 2026 |
| Liability for harassment by customers and other third parties | Employment Rights Act 2025, Section 21 (Legislation.gov.uk) |
| Trade union access requests and fewer-than-21-workers exemption | Government trade union reform guidance (Business Growth Service) |
| Changes to union representatives' rights and recognition procedures | October 2026 employer bulletin (GOV.UK) |
| Construction-specific implications | Federation of Master Builders, 28 October 2026 |
