There are several. People often site religion, which is a good answer although it is included under race. An example of ‘banter’ that crosses the line would be repeatedly asking a colleague of certain faiths if they would like a bacon sandwich. Nationality is also covered under race. Harassment due to sexual orientation is oftenContinue reading “We all know about race and sex, what other types of discrimination do employers need to be aware of?”
Category Archives: e-learning
Which will cost you more, calling someone a Scottish **** or a Geordie ****?
Nationality is included in the legal definition of race discrimination so the Scottish insult is likely to be a bigger claim. However, although regions of the UK are not included in the definition please don’t use this as an excuse to start abusing all Geordies, Scousers and Brummies! That is still likely to be classedContinue reading “Which will cost you more, calling someone a Scottish **** or a Geordie ****?”
What classes as harassment or discrimination at work?
A short answer to this important question would be ‘treating someone less favourably in a way that relates to a ‘protected characteristic’ such as their race, sex, sexual orientation etc.’ Don’t worry about the difference between the 2 terms, that is more for lawyers. For employers, the key is to recognise and then tackle behavioursContinue reading “What classes as harassment or discrimination at work?”
How can employers protect themselves against claims for harassment or discrimination?
Recent press articles suggest the bar is incredibly low for what constitutes harassment or discrimination at work. Take the recent case where an organisation lost a tribunal for sexual harassment supposedly because the boss didn’t say good morning to a female colleague when he did to male staff. Whereas such headlines are worrying for employers,Continue reading “How can employers protect themselves against claims for harassment or discrimination?”
New law means responsible employers must train their employees on how to avoid sexually harassing others.
Effective 26th October, the law now requires employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Although the wording is similar to the previous phraseology, those 3 new words ‘all reasonable steps’ means it will now be significantly harder for organisations to defend claims, even if they don’t believe they haveContinue reading “New law means responsible employers must train their employees on how to avoid sexually harassing others.”
Have you ever made a joke about male drivers in the workplace?
From 26th October this year the law on sex discrimination changed, and now requires employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This is a significant change and businesses really do need to take it seriously, especially with sex discrimination awards currently averaging £36,607 at tribunal in addition toContinue reading “Have you ever made a joke about male drivers in the workplace?”
If someone overhears a sexist comment at work can they make a claim as if the remark was aimed at them?
The short answer is yes! Take the iconic (well, for HR geeks at least) council swimming pool example, which is often one of the first cases discussed on employment law training courses. In this case a lifeguard employee made lewd comments about a lady who was swimming lengths in the pool to another lifeguard. TheContinue reading “If someone overhears a sexist comment at work can they make a claim as if the remark was aimed at them?”
186hr’s exciting new partnership with e-Aspire and Channel2Learning
Excitingly for us, e-Aspire and C2L are now our official partner for eLearning. They have developed our Banter and Behaviour in the Workplace eLearning course. We have very high hopes for this unique course that covers (with examples) where the bar is regarding banter and other behaviours in the workplace, which is now proudly hostedContinue reading “186hr’s exciting new partnership with e-Aspire and Channel2Learning”