Christine:  So, if we get started then, if we kick off with our bullying and harassment. I'm sure everybody saw the stories in the media about the . . . It's turned into a little bit of a scandal for McDonald's, the treatment of particularly younger employees. And it seemed to be a bit of a snowball when the story broke. More and more stories came out about different branches. And there were Northern Irish branches involved in kind of the media storm that surrounded that. Seamus, can you tell us a wee bit more about that?

Seamus:  Yeah. So, BBC conducted an investigation in relation to various complaints that have been raised throughout the UK in relation to various McDonald's outlets.

And McDonald's works in the aspect of . . . The investigation report is clear that the employer, these outlets, these restaurants, are often franchised out through licence agreements, and that person or that organisation or company are the employer of the business, not specifically McDonald's.

But what McDonald's do as part of that franchising process is that they provide policies and procedures. So, they do appear to have very uniform, consistent policies and procedures across the board in the UK relating to their operation of their restaurants.

The real disturbing aspect of this was that there were over 100 reports to the BBC in their investigation of alleged sexual assault, harassment, racism, bullying. There were 31 claims of sexual assault alone, and 78 related to sexual harassment.

So, the dfference between harassment and assault . . . Often with harassment, I can take it from the point of view that somebody has been harassed maybe through social media, maybe through one-to-one discussions, comments made, and things like that. But the actual assault aspect is where there is touching that's happening or worse.

And so, 31 claims of sexual assault, 18 allegations of racism, and 6 allegations of homophobia. And the majority of these workers appeared to be young workers. The 16-to-24 bracket seemed to be the majority of the workers that work in these establishments.

And for a lot of them, it's their first job. So, they're coming in at a young age and this is their first job. Unfortunately, it appears that they're being exposed to very difficult working circumstances.

Young workers talked about being groped regularly, being harassed. And the disturbing thing for us in Northern Ireland was that there was one of the outlets where sexual relationships between staff members had resulted in an outbreak of gonorrhoea at the outlet itself. So, it goes to show the sort of very serious nature of what has been going on.

Really interestingly, the investigation found that managers were responsible for the harassment and assaults. And you maybe remember that the report from BBC mentions that maybe the CEO in the UK resigned from his position ultimately five years ago or so because he was having a relationship with a younger member of staff. Now, it was consensual, but it was that sort of aspect that there had been a relationship that had been happening.

And a big complaint was that senior managers, whenever the incidents were reported to senior management, they were ignored, or alternatively they weren't taken seriously.

And it records in the BBC report that there was one employee who was perching on an iPad next to a McFlurry machine, speeding through the harassment training video whilst making drinks. So, not what the expectation would be.

Doesn't that really just mirror of someone that has been given a policy or procedure, told to read it, or given a video and told to watch it, but no real intent behind that in respect of the training?

And what we see developing from the case law is two important aspects. The training can't just be, "We do have a policy for that". It has to come into the culture and the outworkings through the organisation. And then that training has to be refreshed and monitored and reviewed.

But it was interesting, I think McDonald's came back in there and they said that there obviously had been failings in relation to how things are managed, and that all employees deserve to work in a safe, respectful, and inclusive workplace. So, we'll hope that the lessons have been learned and that things are moving on in the right direction there.

And the other one that we have then, Christine, was locally within the BBC and issues arising around text messages of photographs and videos being sent by a notable presenter to other employees within a team, and that raising issues specifically itself. And then we'd also had the larger Huw Edwards aspect with presenters as well.

So, I think certainly from our standards and how we hold those standards out, whenever you have certain individuals, certain organisations, certain companies, that you do hold those to a higher standard than others.

But in saying that, the key aspect here has to be that you have a definition of harassment in the workplace and what that is. And if there is a breach in that, it has the potential then to, first of all, result in a potential grievance, or second of all, a claim against the company, because they could be held vicariously liable for the actions of their employees.

I thought it might be helpful if we looked at what harassment is in the workplace and how we define it. Bullying and harassment.

Bullying is slightly different because you'll not find the definition of bullying within the legislation, but it is a claim that can be acknowledged of happening. And if you read even some of our local tribunal judgements, you'll see references to bullying.

But harassment is what is defined. And harassment is referred to as unwanted conduct that has the purpose or the effect of violating a person's dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for an individual.

Certainly, we can give examples, we can set things out in a list, but they would never be exhaustive because you couldn't cover every possibility that could happen.

But in general, a person has to feel harassed or bullied as a result of one of their protected characteristics. And you're looking at things like gender, age, their race, religious belief, political opinion, disability, and sexual orientation. Those sorts of issues that arise and people say, "I feel harassed as a result of one of these factors".

And we always have that situation where the relationship between the employer and the employee is based on trust and confidence. Those are the two pillars that we look at.

And as you had mentioned at the start, there's an obligation on employers to make sure that they're meeting the standards, that they're meeting their duty of care to their employees, and that they're going to provide a safe environment, that there's going to be reasonable support, that investigations will be completed if there are complaints, that they will take that process forward, and that an employee can feel confident that that will happen.

I think generally we'll see two main types of policies. We'll see a general and harassment policy, or a bullying and harassment policy. And on the postgraduate course that I do with Legal-Island and University of Ulster, I cover off on grievances. And you could not really give a seminar on grievances without bringing into account the bullying and harassment aspect.

What I tend to do on that is that I will prepare and give a draft grievance process, but I also prepare and do a draft bullying and harassment process, which just is more in depth and gives more assistance to the organisation on how they should deal with an actual bullying and harassment complaint when it comes in.

These things are not easy. You're often dealing with a member of staff that is potentially vulnerable, is feeling vulnerable, and has probably grappled with the idea of whether they should raise the complaint or not raise the complaint. So, there are lots of factors that come around.

And a lot of these claims that end up in the tribunal will happen because the employer hasn't dealt with the grievance or the harassment and bullying claim appropriately and in the right way.

Ultimately, if you are found to have fallen short of your legal obligations, there will be a written judgement and you can face huge damage to the organisation's reputation.

We know the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland safeguard and promote the law in relation to discrimination, which includes harassment and the bullying. And they will promote cases where they have been successful in relation to getting a decision or obtaining compensation from an employer.

So, it's certainly something that employers need to take seriously. It is challenging and it is difficult, but it needs to be done right.

So, saying that, there is a really good piece of guidance. I just want to sort of review and go over that guidance. It's a joint venture, if I put it that way, from the Equality Commission and the Labour Relations Agency. It's specifically on harassment and bullying in the workplace. I think that Maria is going to put that up for us as well.

Christine:  Yeah, she'll drop that into the chat if you want to have a look at that, anyone.

Seamus:  Yeah. And it's talking about promoting an inclusive workplace. Ultimately, that's what it's about.

But I'll just show you briefly. That's the copy of it that is there. It takes it from a higher point. I think if you're looking for specific guidance on how to deal with a complaint, the Labour Relations Agency also have a separate advisory piece in relation to that.

But I thought from the point of view, and given our audience will possibly have gone through this process before . . . I thought the interesting point, Christine, was more the recent case law that we have coming forward, and the criticisms that the tribunal have had for some employers and organisations, where despite the fact that they have a policy, they're saying that it's not good enough for them to do that.

So, the guidance piece there from the Equality Commission and the Labour Relations Agency covers off on six general points. I thought it would be good just to highlight these very briefly.

The first point is in relation to the corporate commitment. And essentially what this is saying is that an organisation and an employer should have core values. They should have corporate values that are underpinned by commitments that are set out in their policies and procedures. They talk about the standard types of policies and procedures, your equal opportunities, your harassment, dignity at work, and diversity policy.

And I'm not saying every organisation needs to have 10 policies and procedures to deal with bullying and harassment. What you do need to do is make sure that you have . . . from a corporate standpoint, you're very clear about what your position is on that.

This will give comfort to your employees internally, and when it comes to recruitment, it will also give assistance to those that are looking to the company.

We did the webinar quite a while back now in relation to those sorts of corporate commitments. And this is core values that employees are expecting now whenever they go to work. This is what the expectation is.

The second point that they make is about assessing your current situation. They look to see how is your business performing and what is the current situation when it comes to bullying and harassment? Is there staff buy-in in relation to that?

They talk interestingly about this development of a joint declaration of protection. And certainly, if you're a unionised employer, there is consultation and involvement with employees via their trade union. And if you're not trade union, you are consulting and you are communicating with your employees about policies and procedures and about issues that have arisen.

It's also a good opportunity to look to see, "What has happened and how did we deal with that? Did we deal with it well enough? Were we supportive enough? Did we take the right steps?"

The third one is about communicating your commitment. And this is this sort of threading the needle through your organisation of your commitment to not standing for bullying and harassment in the workplace and giving comfort in that sense.

So, the guidance talks about that you should be communicating your commitment regularly to all members of staff, using your policies and procedures, your intranet, or wherever it is that you might keep that.

You should be providing detailed information on sources of support, whether that is flyers up in the common area like the kitchen, but having that information available for your staff.

They talk about managers needing particular training and information, and about this ability to challenge poor behaviour when it happens and not being afraid to do it.

One of the big criticisms for employers tends to be, "What's the point of me raising this? It will not be dealt with". That seems to be what comes out. And ensuring then that your policies are implemented.

Another big one is training your staff, and particularly your managers that are going to oversee and implement these policies and procedures. Everybody has to be aware and they have to understand what's acceptable in the workplace. And what are the consequences if you don't meet that threshold?

And you need to train managers on how to handle and manage complaints. There's no point having a policy and procedure in place if somebody doesn't know how to implement it or deal with it.

Employees need to be aware of the policies and how they can use them. Visibility is important when it comes to that, is what the guidance talks about.

You need to implement your policies and procedures. So, you need to have effective procedures for dealing with harassment. You need to have your policy in place and the policy needs to tell the employee and the employer how this will move forward.

And the last one is really important. It's to monitor and review progress. And the guidance talks about how you should monitor and evaluate on a regular basis and ensure that the policies that you have are effective. A great way of doing that is looking to see if you've had a complaint, how that was handled, and how it was dealt with.

And it talks about engaging with your staff and establishing sort of levels of confidence within your staff, so that they are comfortable and confident in coming to you if there is an issue that arises.

And then the last one is the big point, is that you're monitoring the complaints that you're receiving and you're looking to see, "Is there a cultural problem within my organisation in respect of how these things go?" A great one for McDonald's. They clearly missed the boat there because there were so many complaints happening.

Christine:  We've got a couple of questions coming in. The first one is from a trade union official expressing concern that people find unions to be of stress, I suppose. And I suppose it's very specific to the organisation. It was just kind of a one-off comment, so, union officials, don't be overly concerned. It was one person kind of saying that that's what they're struggling with at the moment. It's certainly not a reflection on unions.

We also have a question relating to bullying and harassment. "Do you have any guidance on dealing with two counter-bullying allegations, where each employee is alleging the other one is bullying them?" I think that's very common, isn't it, Seamus? Unfortunately.

 Seamus: It is.

Christine:  But it is a headache.

Seamus:  Yeah, it is. And often whenever there is an allegation thrown out, there is a response to that to say, "Well, I feel that I'm also being bullied and harassed by this person", and it is a difficult one to manage.

I mean, I think that what you have to do is assure both employees that an investigation will take place in relation to their allegations. Probably, if there are counter allegations against each other, I would be comfortable I think . . . It depends on the exact circumstances, but I'd be comfortable with doing a one-piece investigation to get to the root of the problem, to find out where the land lies.

Often with these circumstances, and a really frustrating one, is that sometimes there just isn't evidence to support either allegation that has been made. Now, it's different if there are witnesses, if there are written communications, social media, things like that. But often, these incidents of bullying and harassment can happen almost in the dark.

And also, you get a circumstance where everyone will say, "But those two employees are the best of friends. They're always bantering and getting on together". And then there's a sudden fallout and the wind changes direction on it. It's very difficult to manage that, but I think the approach should be an overarching investigation.

And again, you're getting clear and detailed information from each of the employees that are alleging they've been victims. And then looking at the wider scale of that of what are the evidential circumstances around that? What are the witnesses? What evidence do we have about what's happened? So, a proper and full investigation, and then a report with recommendations providing the way forward for it.

Christine:  Brilliant. Thanks very much, Seamus. I'm mindful of the time, so I'm just going to kind of wrap up this section with my three takeaways on bullying and harassment.

So, firstly, you as employers have legal obligation to prevent and address bullying and harassment in the workplace. It's also a moral obligation.

Secondly, it's crucial to have clear and comprehensive anti-bullying and harassment policies in place, to provide training on those policies, and establish effective reporting mechanisms.

Now, Legal-Island has an eLearning module on bullying and harassment. If you stay tuned at the end, I'm going to give you a bit of a discount for that. So, it's worth hanging on for that.

Thirdly, you should try to foster a culture of respect and inclusivity within the workplace. This will hopefully encourage open communication and provide support to victims while you're also able to take appropriate disciplinary action if needed.

Legal Island Training Resources for Your Staff

Workplace Bullying | eLearning Course
Are you responsible for overseeing the implementation of training for all employees on the new Bullying Code of Practice in your organisation?
Legal Island has created a 45-minute eLearning course for all employees. The provision of this training for your staff will enable your organisation to act in compliance with the Code and help to raise awareness of bullying and harassment in the workplace and explain what to do if employees are concerned.

Click here to view our course on workplace bullying.