Protecting young workers from bullying and harassment
This week is Anti-Bullying Week, a campaign coordinated by the ‘Anti-Bullying Alliance’, an organisation that specifically focuses on stopping the bullying of children and young people. Bullying and harassment in the workplace Young people in the workplace can be more vulnerable to workplace bullying and harassment compared to other workplace groups for many reasons: Firstly, […]
HR Solutions Celebrates 20th Anniversary
HR Solutions is delighted to celebrate its 20th anniversary this month. When HR Solutions was first launched by Carol Ann Guilford in June 2001, outsourcing a firm’s human resources needs was a new concept. Since then, the company has continued to pave the way for outsourced HR by supporting SMEs with a full service offering […]
BrewDog boss apologises after toxic workplace accusations
Scottish craft beer company BrewDog has had to apologise to former employees after they accused the firm, including one of its co-founders, of fostering a toxic workplace culture. In a letter posted on Twitter, 61 former employees and a further 45 who didn’t wish to identify themselves accused BrewDog of encouraging a “culture of fear” […]
How to Deal With Bullying and Harassment
This guidance article on dealing with bullying and harassment is accompanied by a webinar recording which you can watch on demand. Bullying and harassment continues to be a topic which employers can always learn from as part of a continuous aim to protect employees from harm and to promote dignity at work. It was recently […]
Buckingham Palace investigate allegations of bullying
Bullying and harassment in the workplace continues to be a topic which employers can always learn from as part of a continuous aim to protect their employees from harm and to promote dignity and respect in the workplace for all. Currently Buckingham Palace has a high profile employment issue with the leak of recent allegations […]
Priti Patel could face tribunal questioning over bullying claims of top civil servant
Home Secretary Priti Patel may have to give evidence at an employment tribunal following claims she forced out the Home Office’s most senior civil servant. Ms Patel is also accused of bullying staff and allowing a press briefing campaign to go ahead against Sir Philip Rutnam who resigned in February. In Sir Philip’s claim for […]
Personal Relationships at Work
In a modern world, where we all spend a lot of time at work and with our colleagues, there is a growing trend of personal or intimate relationships developing. Personal relationships include family relationships, sexual relationships, very close friendships, and close business, commercial and financial. It is generally regarded as unrealistic and too much of […]
The 4 types of discrimination: what every employer needs to know
The word ‘discrimination’ is often used on a day to day basis to describe being treated unfairly for a particular reason; but unlawful discrimination happens when less favourable or unfair treatment relates to specific characteristics, known legally as ‘protected characteristics’. The UK have nine protected characteristics, which are set out in the Equality Act 2010. There […]
Personal relationships at work
Personal relationships at work which may affect employers can include those between spouses, civil partners, common-law partners, family members (fathers, sons, sisters, brothers) and others. The type of relationship can include very close friendships, sexual relationships, close family members and commercial relationships. Many organisations employ staff with family connections. Also, as we spend more time […]
Being called ‘fat’ was not discrimination arising from a disability
Employment Appeal Tribunal Case: Evans v Xactly Corporation Ltd UKEATPA Category: Disability discrimination, harassment and victimisation In this employment appeal tribunal case the employee was disabled and was dismissed for poor performance. He claimed that both the process that led to dismissal and the dismissal itself, amounted to direct discrimination in relation to the protected […]
Starbucks Loses Workplace Dyslexia Case
A dyslexic employee has won an Employment Tribunal against coffee retail chain Starbucks. Meseret Kumulchew, a barista at a Starbucks in Clapham, London, suffered discrimination in her role after she was wrongly accused of falsifying documents. Ms Kumulchew made mistakes in her role due to her difficulties with reading and writing. Yet instead of making […]
£3.2 Million Awarded for Workplace Harassment
A former banker at the London office of a major Russian bank has won significant damages at an Employment Tribunal following ongoing discrimination and harassment in her role. Svetlana Lokhova worked for Sberbank CIB (UK) Ltd until she resigned claiming constructive dismissal in 2012. Ms Lokhova, a Cambridge graduate, joined the bank in 2008. […]
Employees Afraid to Blow the Whistle
A third of employees have admitted to being afraid to blow the whistle on illegal or dangerous activities taking place in their workplace. Over half of employees (53%) said that fear of losing their job would cause them to turn a blind eye, whilst 23% stated that they were worried about the impact upon their […]
Employers need to be more approachable regarding sexual harassment complaints
Research has found that victims of sexual harassment at work, are put off reporting it to their employers and HR departments, and when they do, they feel that they are not adequately supported. A Every Day Sexism conducted by the TUC and the Everyday Sexism Project, has discovered that 63% of women aged between 18 […]
Acas Reports Increase in Workplace Bullying
The employment conciliation service Acas has reported this week that workplace bullying and harassment is on the rise in the UK. Acas reviewed a number of studies and found that reports of workplace bullying have been increasing. The service has also revealed that its own advice helpline received around 20,000 calls related to bullying and […]
Caste Discrimination Covered Under Equality Act 2010
A former domestic servant has won £184,000 in unpaid wages following the UK’s first claim for caste discrimination. Ms Tirkey worked as a domestic servant for a Mr and Mrs Chandok, first in India and then again in the UK. Ms Tirkey is of Adivasi origin, which some in India consider to be low caste. […]
How to deal with bullying in the workplace
A survey of over 2,000 UK employees found that more than a third (37%) have been victim to bullying in the workplace. While it’s a challenge to find up to date statistics on the state of bullying in the workplace in the UK, there is an interesting 2015 survey that was conducted for solicitors Slater […]