When the harasser is the customer who is paying
Nextica Law & Tax writes a hospitality venue's anti-harassment protocol for the sector's real scenario, not for the manual: a young, seasonal workforce arriving in batches, a short hierarchy between kitchen and floor, night shifts and customers who have been drinking. The right to dignity and privacy under art. 4.2.e of the Workers' Statute does not distinguish who the conduct comes from, and Law 15/2022 on equal treatment and non-discrimination requires action against what staff suffer at their post. We also build in the planned equality and non-discrimination measures for LGBTI people that RD 1026/2024 requires of companies with more than fifty employees — a threshold a restaurant group crosses by adding up venues without noticing.
The waitress puts up with the customer at table five because nobody has told her she does not have to.
What's included
1. A real headcount at COMPANY level, not per venue
four bars of fifteen add up to sixty, and the obligations that trigger depend on that number.
2. A protocol naming the sector's three scenarios
between colleagues, from supervisor to subordinate in the short kitchen-and-floor chain, and from the customer towards whoever is serving.
3. An alert procedure within the shift, setting out who decides at night when the manager is away and how help is called without leaving the bar.
4. A written right of admission applied without discrimination, so service can be withdrawn from a harasser without the decision falling on the person suffering it.
5. Building in the planned equality and non-discrimination measures for LGBTI people once the company crosses the fifty threshold.
6. Induction training in the first few days, not at the start of the season, because staff arrive in batches and whoever starts in July was not at May's session.
7. An incident log by venue and shift, which is what lets you see the pattern before it becomes a claim.
THE THRESHOLD IS CROSSED BY ADDING UP VENUES, AND NOBODY LOOKS
Four small bars are one company for headcount purposes. And on the night shift, the person deciding what to do about a customer is usually the one putting up with him.
Counting staff per venue instead of per company
the count that triggers the obligations is at company level, and a restaurant group crosses the fifty-person threshold by adding up sites without ever considering it — all the more so in season.
RD 1026/2024 on equality and non-discrimination measures for LGBTI people in companiesTreating customer harassment as part of the job
the right to dignity and privacy at work does not distinguish who the conduct comes from, and the employer owes a duty of protection that is not suspended because the harasser is a paying customer.
art. 4.2.e of the Workers' StatuteFailing to act on discrimination suffered at the post
the comprehensive act requires measures against discriminatory harassment and makes the company responsible for a working environment that does not tolerate it, whoever is behind it.
Law 15/2022 on equal treatment and non-discriminationFrequently asked questions
Can we throw out a customer who harasses a waitress?
Yes, and it is worth having it in writing before it happens. The employer owes a duty of protection to its staff, and the right of admission allows service to be withdrawn from anyone breaching the venue's rules, provided those rules are established and not applied discriminatorily. What avoids the ugly moment is the procedure: who decides on each shift — at night, not always the manager — how the alert is raised, what is logged, and at what point the police are called. Without that, the decision falls on the person suffering the conduct, who is precisely the one who should not have to decide.
We have four small venues. Does the fifty-employee threshold apply to us?
The count is per company, not per workplace, so four venues of fifteen add up to sixty. It is the sector's most common confusion, because each venue is run as if it were a separate business. And the threshold is not only checked on 31 December: in hospitality the workforce spikes in season, and temporary and permanent-seasonal contracts count under the applicable counting rules. It is worth doing the calculation before the season, because the obligations it triggers — equality plan, planned measures, protocol — cannot be improvised in August.
Let's talk about your company.
Tell us your situation and we'll reply within 24 working hours.