News & insights / Insights / 15.01.25

What UK Hospitality Businesses Need to Know About the Latest Sustainability Legislation

Since October 2024: The Worker Protection Act

The Worker Protection Act 2023 came into effect from October 2024. The new requirements under the Equality Act 2010 mean that employers must now take “reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees in the course of their employment”, with the goal of providing a safer work environment by taking a proactive approach. 

Employers now a direct duty to anticipate when sexual harassment may occur and take reasonable steps to prevent it, leading a change in company culture where necessary. This extends to when employees are working outside of their usual work premises and when they are attending social events that are considered an extension of work (for example, staff parties). Where sexual harassment has taken place, an employer must take action to stop it from happening again.

This is enforceable by employment tribunals, which now have the discretion to award a ‘compensation uplift’ by increasing any compensation it awards for sexual harassment by up to 25% if an employer has breached this duty.  

WHAT SHOULD RESTAURANTS DO TO ABIDE BY THE WORKER PROTECTION ACT?

Here are some examples of what you can do to protect your employees — and to ensure that your business can demonstrate it has taken reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

Proactively identify the risk of harassment in each role so that you can provide specific, tailored support. For example, bartenders working in late night venues will be exposed to a different set of risks than those working back-of-house.

Review your policies to ensure that your zero-tolerance attitude to harassment is formalised in writing.

Conduct an audit into your operation’s reporting structures to ensure that they are clear, effective and supportive.

Set up a committee of staff to advise on the matter, helping management to understand their specific needs and assisting in implementing these policies.

Ensure that all complaints about harassment are logged. This will help identify any concerning trends and give you the chance to make changes where needed in order to prevent further occurrences.

Depending on your business type, you could consider installing visible signage front-of-house to ensure that customers know your business is dedicated to protecting its employees from harassment, abuse and threats.

Training

Training is key to ensure that employees at every level understand what constitutes sexual harassment and what is considered to be inappropriate workplace behaviour. It should also include information on how to report an incident of harassment, as well as providing those who may witness harassment with the tools to intervene safely.

Training should be given as part of induction and at regular intervals thereafter. Update your training materials regularly.

Your goal should be to create a culture with a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment, where every staff member feels safe and — should they ever need to report an incident — confident that they will be supported.

From March 2025: Simpler Recycling

In England, new regulations (Simpler Recycling) will come into effect from the end of March 2025, making it a legal requirement for non-household municipal premises to separate food waste and dry mixed recyclables from general waste.

By 31st March 2025, businesses and relevant non-domestic premises in England will need to arrange for the collection of the core recyclable waste streams, with the exception of garden waste. Micro-firms (businesses with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees) will be temporarily exempt from this requirement. They will have until 31st March 2027 to arrange for recycling of core recyclable waste streams.

By 31st March 2026, local authorities will be required to collect the core recyclable waste streams from all households in England. This includes introducing weekly food waste collections for most homes, unless a transitional arrangement applies. By 31st March 2027, kerbside plastic film collections from businesses and households will be introduced.

WHAT SHOULD RESTAURANTS DO TO COMPLY WITH THE SIMPLER RECYCLING LEGISLATION?

Under this legislation, your business will need to separate your waste in four streams, prior to collection. The streams are:

paper and cardboard,
other dry mixed recyclables (plastic, metal and glass), which can be mixed together,
food waste, and
general waste.

For hospitality businesses, the biggest change will be the new requirement to separate food waste from general waste; all food waste will now need to be collected and stored separately. This includes leftovers or waste generated by food preparation and production as well as plate waste. Furthermore, under this legislation, businesses will no longer be able to use food waste disposal equipment (for example macerators or enzyme digesters) to discharge food waste or liquid derived from food waste to a drain or sewer.

Set up your new recycling stations: In practical terms, it’s time to buy more bins. With four different waste streams to collect, your business is likely to require different bins in different areas. Consider what types of waste each part of your business generates and get your bins in place ahead of March.
Train your team: Set up some staff training to ensure that everyone in your business understands the new requirements. Appoint a Waste Management Captain at each site to enforce compliance, Adding signage at each waste station can also help.
Be proactive: We highly recommend getting on top of these new requirements sooner rather than later, making sure any teething problems are out of the way before the Simpler Recycling laws come into effect. Not only will business be well-prepared for the new mandates, ensuring compliance while reducing your environmental impact, but this will also help you control your waste management costs — especially considering the 20% increase in landfill taxes from April 2025.

We’ll be creating a full guide on the Simpler Recycling legislation for businesses in our paid network; stay tuned.

What else is on the horizon?

BUSINESS RATES REFORM

This legislation introduced in November 2024 aims to cut business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties from 2026, with the goal of supporting high street businesses, including restaurants. Until then, eligible properties will receive relief on business rates bills, up to £110,000 per business, in 2025-26. Business rates relief has been reduced from a 75% discount to 40% for the hospitality sector starting April 2025. Restaurant operators should stay informed about these developments to ensure compliance and adapt their business practices accordingly.

NATIONAL INSURANCE (NI) INCREASE

From April 2025, employer contributions are set to rise from 13.8% to 15%, with the threshold for payments dropping from £9,100 to £5,000. For every employee earning £25,000, you’ll pay an extra £805.80 annually in NI alone.

NATIONAL LIVING WAGE INCREASE

From 1st April 2025, the National Living Wage will rise to £12.21/hour. Minimum wages for younger workers will also increase to £10/hour for those aged 18-20 and £7.55 an hour for 16- and 17-year-olds. 

Countertalk have released an extremely handy calculator tool that will help you pinpoint exactly how much these increases wil impact your business. The tool combines the increases in National Insurance and Minimum/Living Wage with the reductions in business Rates Relief to generate a comprehensive view of your additional expenses from April onwards. Find it here.

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING STANDARDS (SRS)

The UK is working on adopting new sustainability disclosure requirements for businesses, including hospitality. These will align with international frameworks and will increase transparency in environmental practices. The government aims to consult on drafts of UK Sustainability Reporting Standards in Q1 of this year. Once the assessment process is complete (and assuming it's endorsed), UK-listed companies may be required to report sustainability-related information to their investors.

THE EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS BILL

The Employment Rights Bill introduces measures to enhance worker protections, including:

immediate employment rights from the first day of employment,
banning 'fire and rehire' practices, preventing employers from dismissing staff and rehiring them on less favourable terms, and
modernisation of trade union laws.

This bill was introduced in 2024 and full implementation is expected to take up to two years, but some provisions may potentially affect restaurants in 2025.

POTENTIAL RESTRICTIONS ON PROMOTING UNHEALTHY FOODS

In Wales, consultations are underway to curb obesity by restricting promotions for high-fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) foods. While primarily focused on retail, elements like banning free refills of sugary drinks may affect hospitality. If approved, these measures could be implemented this year.

Our first Working Group of the year is on 6th February and will lay out some of the most pertinent upcoming sustainability-related legislation for 2025. If you’re a UK business in our network with 10+ sites and you haven’t yet signed up, be sure to do so! Drop Laurence a line at laurence@thesra.org.

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