An employment tribunal has decided that colleagues gossiping about a new father’s flexible working arrangement amounted to sex-related harassment. He was awarded more than £20,000 in compensation.
Background
The employee made a flexible working request before the birth of his child. The request was approved, but had not remained confidential and attitudes towards him changed on his return – a deliberately increased workload, repeated comments about his weekly ‘day off’, and that his flexible working arrangement was unfair to other colleagues.
He resigned and claimed harassment related to sex. The tribunal agreed and found that the behaviour towards him was unwanted conduct creating a hostile environment, and that a female with flexible working arrangements for childcare reasons would be unlikely to experience this treatment.
Practical takeaway
Avoiding subjective decisions – flexible working requests should be considered objectively. Subjective decisions that can be linked to gender are unlawful.
Intervention – fewer men (4% compared to 24% of women) use flexible working for childcare purposes. Detrimental behaviour connected to a male’s flexible working request/arrangement is likely to be considered connected to sex and entitle the individual to compensation. Training managers to deal with flexible working objectively manages risk and promotes inclusivity.
Unconscious bias training – empower colleagues by raising awareness and giving them the tools to check ‘blind spots’. Meaningful training is key to creating a culture focussed on asking questions and eradicating unconscious biases.
Intelligent Employment is here to help if you need advice and guidance when managing flexible working requests. We can also support rolling out unconscious bias training – get in touch to learn more.
This update is accurate on the date it was published but may be subject to change which may or may not be notified to you. This update is not to be taken as advice and you should seek advice if anything contained within affects you or your business.
