"Asking colleagues when they lost their virginity and calling them a 'slag' is acceptable within a culture of workplace 'banter', tribunal rules".

That may have got your attention, right?

This headline in the Daily Mail today will no doubt catch the eye, but I have news for you (and this may not be entirely unexpected to many!) - don't always believe what you read in the Daily Mail!

https://lnkd.in/edZSP8pW

Whilst the article does indeed report on a recent Employment Tribunal judgment, it would be a foolish employer (or indeed employee) who cites the Daily Mail's summary of it as gospel. I took the trouble to read the actual judgment from the Tribunal (linked below, if interested).

https://lnkd.in/eC3Kzufj

What the Tribunal actually found was that the "allegations were based substantively on hearsay", that the employer's investigation in to the allegations was "inadequate and not capable of reaching a reasonable conclusion that the claimant was guilty of gross misconduct" and that the employer made the mistake of confusing "the unquestionable seriousness of the allegations" with actual evidence.

The Tribunal DID NOT find that "asking colleagues when they lost their virginity and calling them a 'slag' is acceptable within a culture of workplace banter" - far from it, in fact, they concluded that such allegations were of "unquestionable seriousness".

This case is a classic case which we see a lot of - the employer may well have had good cause to dismiss (though we have no idea in this instance) but their investigation and disciplinary process let them down.

So two lessons on this Friday morning for employers:

(1) Don't always believe the Daily Mail headlines (or, to be fair, and to not appear as a Daily Mail basher - the headlines of any newspaper when reporting employment law cases as they are invariably misleading); and

(2) Please take good legal advice before conducting any investigation or disciplinary process, no matter how obvious the outcome may appear or how serious the allegations are. 

If we can help you, please contact WorkSmarter.  

Until then, mind the workplace bants!