Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc, who is about to open his first restaurant in Yorkshire, recently warned his rivals that if they continue to use their “macho” kitchen ways and do not stop bullying staff, they could face legal action.
The issue that Blanc raises is one familiar to many, particularly those working in the hospitality industry, where a certain amount of shouting and swearing may be expected. You might be forgiven for thinking “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”, but this bullying behaviour is not confined to the catering industry. In fact, according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, bullying and harassment affects one in five UK employees. With National Ban Bullying at Work Day taking place on 7 November 2007, it is the perfect opportunity for employers to address any bullying in their offices, and to consider the legal consequences if they choose to ignore it.
While it is not possible to make a direct complaint of bullying to an employment tribunal, employees are able to bring complaints under laws covering discrimination and harassment. In order to bring a successful discrimination claim, employees need to be able to show that they have been mistreated unlawfully, namely on the grounds of their sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief or age. Ignorance of the behaviour itself will be no defence, because the employer itself can be vicariously liable for the conduct of its employees if it was done in the course of the employee’s employment. There is no statutory cap for discrimination awards, which will be on top of unfair dismissal awards.
Employer’s have a ‘duty of care’ towards their employees. This means that if the mutual trust and confidence deemed to exist between every employer and his employee is broken as a result of the bullying, to the extent that it is considered a fundamental breach of that contract, then the employee may resign and be able to claim successfully that the resignation amounted to a ‘constructive dismissal’. Compensatory awards for unfair dismissal claims are currently capped at £60.6k, and the size of such awards depends on a number of factors.
Thus, the potential cost to an employer of failing to address bullying in the workplace can be crippling. As well as the cost of any compensation awarded by the tribunal, a recent study revealed that, win or lose, employers spend an average of 15 days in management time dealing with each tribunal claim. When you consider statistics showing that each year as many as 18.9 million working days are lost to bullying, and up to half of all stress-related illnesses are a direct result of it, employers really cannot afford to let bullying go unaddressed.
It is accepted that employers cannot see, hear and control everything that happens in the workplace, but there are simple procedures that can help protect against what can be costly claims. Employers would be well advised to implement a formal policy on bullying and harassment, and ensure that all employees are aware of the standards of behaviour that are expected from them. Employers should deal with any complaints from employees promptly and fairly. With the risk of tribunal claims and the associated costs of sick pay, staff turnover and lost production, turning a blind eye to bullying can be a very expensive mistake to make.
