Free tool · Signs
Free "We reserve the right to refuse service" sign
Yes. A business in England and Wales can refuse service and can set standards of behaviour for its customers, such as treating staff with respect (EHRC guidance). What the law rules out is refusing service because of a protected characteristic, such as race, religion or belief, disability, sex or sexual orientation (Equality Act 2010, section 29; section 4). Make your sign below: pick the wording, the size and a style, then download a PDF or PNG.
Make your sign
Make a printable "we reserve the right to refuse service" sign: six wordings or your own, A4 or A5, portrait or landscape, four styles, as a PDF or PNG.
Everything happens in your browser: nothing you type is sent to us or stored.
Preview
How to use the sign maker
- Pick a wording, or choose "Write your own" and type a heading and a smaller line.
- Choose A4 or A5, portrait or landscape, and a style. "Minimal" uses the least ink.
- Add your business name if you want it at the foot of the sign. Nothing else is printed on it.
- Press "Download PDF" to print it at 100% ("Actual size"), or "Download PNG" for a 300 dpi image to print or share.
- Tell your team what it means in your café: who decides to refuse service, and how to do it calmly.
When a business can refuse service
In plain English, for a business serving the public in England and Wales. Each line links to the law or the official guidance it comes from.
- You can set standards of behaviour
- EHRC guidance says a business can still tell customers what standards of behaviour it wants from them, for example behaving with respect towards its staff and other customers (EHRC, Your rights to equality from businesses, page 11).
- Not because of who someone is
- A business must not refuse service because of a protected characteristic (Equality Act 2010, s.29). For customers, those are age (for adults), disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity (which includes breastfeeding), race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation (s.4; s.28; EHRC, page 8).
- Rules that affect one group more
- If a rule for customers has a worse impact on people with a protected characteristic, EHRC guidance says the business needs to be able to objectively justify it, or it will be indirect discrimination (EHRC, page 11).
- Assistance dogs
- EHRC guidance is that assistance dogs should be allowed into restaurants, cafés, food shops and other food premises, and that refusing a disabled person with an assistance dog would be unlawful except in the most exceptional circumstances (EHRC, Assistance dogs).
- Alcohol
- On licensed premises, knowingly selling alcohol to a person who is drunk is an offence (Licensing Act 2003, s.141).
- Your staff
- Employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, including by customers. That duty has applied since 26 October 2024 (Equality Act 2010, s.40A; Acas). From 30 October 2026 it becomes "all reasonable steps", and employers can also be liable for harassment of their staff by customers and other third parties, unless they took all reasonable steps to prevent it (Employment Rights Act 2025, s.20 and s.21; SI 2026/1065).
Questions café owners ask
- Is "We reserve the right to refuse service" legal?
- Yes, as a statement of your own policy. The sign doesn't claim a legal right. What the law rules out is refusing service because of a protected characteristic, such as race, religion or belief, disability, sex or sexual orientation (Equality Act 2010, s.29; EHRC guidance).
- Can a shop or café refuse service for no reason?
- The Equality Act 2010 sets out what a business must not do: it must not refuse service because of a protected characteristic (s.29). A business can set standards of behaviour for its customers, and if one of its rules has a worse impact on people with a protected characteristic it needs to be able to objectively justify it, or it will be indirect discrimination (EHRC guidance, page 11).
- Which characteristics are protected when serving customers?
- Age (for adults: the services part of the Act does not cover age for under-18s), disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. Marriage and civil partnership is a protected characteristic, but not for services (Equality Act 2010, s.4; s.28). EHRC guidance gives the example that a business must not refuse to serve a woman who is breastfeeding a baby (EHRC guidance, page 11).
- Can I refuse a customer with an assistance dog?
- Only in the most exceptional circumstances. EHRC guidance is that assistance dogs should be allowed into restaurants, cafés, food shops and other food premises, and that it will often be reasonable to set aside a "no dogs" rule for assistance dog owners. A sign saying "No dogs, except assistance dogs" says that clearly (EHRC, Assistance dogs: a guide for businesses).
- Can I refuse to serve someone who is abusive to my staff?
- EHRC guidance says a business can set standards of behaviour, for example behaving with respect towards its staff (EHRC guidance, page 11). Employers must also take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff, including by customers, and from 30 October 2026 that becomes "all reasonable steps" (Equality Act 2010, s.40A; Employment Rights Act 2025, s.20).
Sources
Every source below was read on 13 October 2026.
- Equality Act 2010, section 29 (provision of services)
- Equality Act 2010, section 4 (the protected characteristics)
- Equality Act 2010, section 28 (who the services part applies to)
- Your rights to equality from businesses providing goods, facilities or services to the public
- Assistance dogs: a guide for businesses and service providers
- Licensing Act 2003, section 141 (sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk)
- Equality Act 2010, section 40A (duty to prevent sexual harassment)
- Employment Rights Act 2025, section 20 ("all reasonable steps")
- Employment Rights Act 2025, section 21 (harassment by third parties)
- The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026
- Steps for employers to prevent sexual harassment
Keep the records that go with it.
managero HR & Safety drafts your harassment policy and risk assessment from templates based on EHRC and Acas guidance, records who in your team has read them, and reminds you when a review is due. £18.99 excl VAT a month for your first site, with managero HR & Safety included.