The government White Paper on the Equality Bill was published on 26 June 2008. And although it doesn't go as far as some employers had originally feared, the clear message is that the government is committed to working to achieve equality in the workpla  More...
02 July 2008 16:07

The Equality Bill promises the biggest shake up in discrimination law since the 1970s. Its provisions will have serious repercussions for employers, especially with regard to positive discrimination, openness on pay and the extension of age discrimi  More...
02 July 2008 15:59

Will the Equality Bill allow employers to effectively tackle the inequalities that still persist in many British workplaces? No. Let's be honest - positive action is discrimination. Whether it is justifiable or, indeed, necessary is a totally   More...
02 July 2008 15:55

The fairer sex may not be playing fair after all, with four out of five male workers being harassed by women at work, according to researchers. According to a study by employment law firm Peninsula, 77% of male workers had experienced sexual harass  More...
02 July 2008 13:18

A dyslexic police officer who was branded "lazy" has won £25,000 compensation after being forced to resign because of his disability. Owen Brooking claimed Essex Police left him no option but to leave after he was repeatedly ordered to re-do pap  More...
19 June 2008 10:23

Firefighters are suffering high levels of bullying, harassment and violence at work, a service-wide survey has revealed. A study of 1,869 serving and ex-firefighters found that a third had been bullied or harassed, and a quarter verbally abused.   More...
22 May 2008 17:51

The Prison Service has launched a crackdown on sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination as part of an action plan agreed with the equalities watchdog. The two-year pact with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is in response to th  More...
16 May 2008 10:51

A financial adviser at a high street bank has told a tribunal that she was forced out of her job because she did not fit into the company's "boys' club" ethos. According to the Daily Mail, Jacqueline Crawley, a financial adviser with HSBC who had   More...
23 April 2008 12:56

New sex discrimination laws which tighten the rules when it comes to protecting staff from sexual harassment will present a real challenge for employers, a legal expert has warned. Changes to the Sex Discrimination Act, coming into force on 6 April  More...
28 March 2008 12:15

Q One of our managers was out at a social event with staff. In an incident witnessed by everyone present, he got a female member of staff in a headlock and grabbed her breasts. The woman later reported the incident, but stated that she didn't want it ta  More...
13 March 2008 11:39

In the recent case of English v Thomas Sanderson Blinds, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a man who had been subject to homophobic 'banter' could not bring a claim for harassment under the sexual orientation regulations, because he was no  More...
13 March 2008 10:29

A top City lawyer is seeking a record £13m after winning a sex discrimination and harassment tribunal. Gill Switalski  – once named one of the legal world's 'Hot 100'  – said she was subjected to 18 months of harassment at the hands of Ci  More...
12 March 2008 10:31

The number of sexually inappropriate comments in US workplaces rocketed last year , according to an annual survey. Research by consultancy Novations Group of 546 workers found such remarks were heard by 38% of women in 2007, up from 22% in 2006.  More...
27 February 2008 10:58

BlackBerries and mobiles have blurred the boundaries between work and personal lives, and one unpleasant side-effect has been the inexorable rise of 'cyber-bullying'. Margaret Kubicek investigates.   More...
11 February 2008 12:33

Employers will need to tighten up discrimination and flexible working policies following a landmark disability decision, which is almost certain to give rise to new rights for millions of workers, legal experts have warned. An advocate-general at the  More...
04 February 2008 08:01

British employees in the hospitality industry think they work in 'Hell's Kitchen', new research on worker happiness has found. A Fairness Index survey compiled by business management firm, GoodCorporation, found that over a third (35%) of hospital  More...
24 January 2008 09:28

Minority groups lose out on training in workplaces that have won the Investors in People (IIP) training award, new research suggests. A study of almost 15,000 people by Nottingham University Business School found that women, ethnic minorities, temps,  More...
24 January 2008 09:23

News and analysis in the human resources sector including: alarming news on news EU proposals for health and safety the potential for shared HR services in the higher education sector the decision of the employment tribunal brought by a CBe  More...
18 January 2008 14:55

The Army could be facing a payout of almost £400,000 after a lesbian soldier's claim for sex discrimination and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was upheld in court. An employment tribunal in Leeds ruled that Kerry Fletcher had her  More...
17 January 2008 11:06

I am the HR manager of a large accountancy firm. We have discovered that a member of the team is going to a lap-dancing club during his lunch time. He is never back late, but some of the women in the firm find this type of behaviour upsetting. Can we st  More...
07 January 2008 08:00

Four in 10 disabled workers have experienced discrimination or prejudice at work, a major study published today (Tuesday) has revealed. The report by the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability also found that one in five respondents (18%) in employm  More...
13 November 2007 11:00

An employment tribunal has heard how a lesbian soldier was harassed for sex by a male sergeant. Lance bombardier Kerry Fletcher was reportedly sent a text message by the sergeant, who told her she should have "a real man someone like me"  More...
08 November 2007 12:59

A major survey on the experiences people in the workplace with facial disfigurements has been launched by Changing Faces, a charity supporting people with disfigurements. At least 400,000 people in the UK have disfigurements to the face or body fro  More...
01 November 2007 09:10

At least 25% of all employees will experience bullying at some time during their working lives, estimates Ban Bullying at Work . The charity, in conjunction with the Chartered Management Institute, recently surveyed more than 500 managers and f  More...
29 October 2007 08:00

I work in the HR department for a large PR, marketing and design agency in London. One of our account managers was recently subjected to sexual harassment at a lunch with a client, but is worried about losing the client if she reports it. She insists on  More...
15 October 2007 08:00

One of our employees has just bought the latest mobile phone, and has been showing it off around the office. He has downloaded a number of ring tones with obscene lyrics - some of which are of a sexually explicit nature. While I do not wish to appear ol  More...
08 October 2007 12:43

Why is it important? Discrimination comes in many guises, but whatever form it takes can seriously damage your career prospects, and have a negative effect on your self-confidence and how you feel about work. Inevitably, anything that hinders caree  More...
08 October 2007 11:30

The financial cost to employers of unfair practices, and the extent of the ethnic, disabled and gender pay gaps were brought to the fore last week after a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference held by equality advisory organisation Committed  More...
01 October 2007 15:12

The trade union representing staff at the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which comes into being today (1 October), has warned the body could be undermined by a lack of cash. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has ex  More...
01 October 2007 11:45

Have you heard the one about the gay Welshman, the transgender taxi driver, and the psychiatric patient? Well you might if you're a devotee of Little Britain or The League of Gentlemen. But are stereotypical jokes OK? Has sexist humour become accep  More...
24 September 2007 11:17

Caesars Palace, the Las Vegas hotel and casino, has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit in the US by agreeing to pay $850,000 (£427,000) to eight kitchen workers who were forced to have sex with supervisors in "makeshift sex rooms". Anna Park, an at  More...
23 August 2007 08:00

NHS HR professionals have been accused of turning a blind eye to institutional racism and the bullying of Asian doctors. Leading figures have told Personnel Today how HR teams are allowing a minority of racist line managers to make working life tou  More...
20 August 2007 10:20

Domino's Pizza has denied claims that its central HR team has lost control of its franchisees after eight migrant staff were sacked last week amid claims of abuse. Trade union Unite claimed that Domino's fired the Hungarians for speaking out against   More...
06 August 2007 10:57

Teasing people about their appearance is rife in workplaces in the UK.  More...
13 June 2007 00:00

European employers and trade union representatives have agreed to fight harassment and violence at work, as one in 20 workers report having been bullied or harassed in the past 12 months, according to the Fourth European Working Conditions Surve  More...
13 June 2007 00:00

The government has published a consultation on the Discrimination Law Review , which aims to modernise discrimination legislation. It includes proposals for a Single Equality Bill that would will put the law on equality and discrimination   More...
12 June 2007 12:40

School dinner ladies who were sent “intimidating” letters by their employer after starting equal pay claims have won their victimisation case after the House of Lords ruled in their favour . The 36 women from St Helens, Merseyside, could now be   More...
27 April 2007 09:03

A teachers' union is threatening legal action over the growing trend of 'cyber-bullying' in an effort to prevent a potential exodus of teachers from the profession. Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL  More...
17 April 2007 08:10

Do recent court rulings make sexual harassment yet another minefield for employers?  More...
10 April 2007 00:00

Mention bullying or harassment in the workplace and thoughts automatically turn to disability, sexual  or racial harassment cases. However the setting of unreasonable and unrealistic targets can also be construed as bullying or harassment. In order  More...
27 March 2007 08:00

A member of staff sent flowers for Valentine's day to another worker and has since been sending unwelcome text messages during the working day and weekend. How should we deal with this? The key issue here is one of harassment, whether under the  More...
27 March 2007 00:00

The government has promised to change sex discrimination law “as soon as is reasonably practicable” following a High Court decision last week. A judge ruled the government failed to properly implement the European Equal Treatment Di  More...
19 March 2007 16:00

A lesbian shop worker could receive up to £124,000 after an employment tribunal ruled that she was subjected to homophobic harassment and unfairly dismissed by the retail group Next. Marlene Bielak told a Merseyside tribunal that her former colleague  More...
06 March 2007 12:08

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has distanced itself from lewd comments on an internet forum for members of the Armed Forces. The MoD insisted that graphic discussions on the British Army Rumour Service ( ARRSE ) website last week about how to treat   More...
06 March 2007 08:00

The government went to court on Wednesday to defend its translation of European sex equality laws. Judicial review proceedings were lodged by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) over the implementation of the European Equal Treatme  More...
28 February 2007 08:58

Gay rights group Stonewall has produced a guide for employers aimed at stopping the bullying and harassment of lesbian and gay employees. Bullying: preventing the bullying and harassment of gay employees offers practical advice on how to tac  More...
09 February 2007 10:20

The progress made in fighting widespread sexual harassment in the Armed Forces will be scrutinised by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) later this month. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will report to the commission on its progress on 31 Januar  More...
10 January 2007 09:15

Sexual harassment in the Armed Forces has reached "alarming levels", according to a government report. The House of Commons Defence Committee annual report found that 99% of service women had been put in sexualised situations in the past year  More...
14 December 2006 15:16

Secretary of state for communities and local government Ruth Kelly has told new Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) chairman Kay Hampton that she will be crucial to the body's legacy. Hampton replaces Trevor Phillips as chairman of the CRE on 1 De  More...
23 November 2006 11:01

An account executive at a property investment firm has won a claim for sexual harassment against her "serial sex pest" boss. Josephine Chi said Anthony Baker, managing director of a London property investment firm, bombarded her with salacious text m  More...
31 October 2006 15:32

Bullying Bosses: A Survivor's Guide Author: Robert Mueller Price: TBC Publisher: Bullyingbosses.com Pages: 270 ISBN: 0976829304 This book is a guide to bullying within the workplace and how to survive a bullying boss if you are a 'target'. It uses t  More...
19 September 2006 00:00

Sexism in the workplace is on the increase, with almost three out of four (72%) of women claiming they have been bullied because of their gender. A survey of 2,067 female employees by legal services firm Peninsula found that women in 2006 feel more vic  More...
07 September 2006 15:37

Bullying outbreak affecting a fifth of nursing staff in Scotland.  More...
26 July 2006 11:14

Anti-harassment training and up-to-date policies could keep your organisation out of court.  More...
25 July 2006 08:00

When the Commission for Equality and Human Rights comes into being the unions are expecting to play an important role in its regional outposts.  More...
18 July 2006 08:01

Proposed new legislation does not tackle the underlying causes of violence in the workplace.  More...
11 July 2006 00:00

Shop workers union backs campaign to end abuse of shop workers   More...
10 July 2006 11:59

An independent complaints body is to be set up for military personnel and their relatives.  More...
15 June 2006 09:04

More than one in seven women (15%) in the Armed Forces has been subject to serious sexual harassment, according to research by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)  More...
26 May 2006 08:45

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister heeds call to stamp out bullying.  More...
05 May 2006 11:04

A personal assistant at car maker Toyota has lodged a £104m sexual harassment claim - the biggest in history.  More...
04 May 2006 10:10

Guidance will help managers tell the difference between firm management and bullying  More...
25 April 2006 14:17

Indiscriminate comments  More...
18 April 2006 00:00

Gay charity teams up with TUC to provide revised information about sexual orientation discrimination.  More...
13 April 2006 08:48

Ever come home from work feeling like you've been kicked in the head?  More...
11 April 2006 08:00

Teacher could have arranged for the purchase of a replacement chair herself, Employment Tribunal rules  More...
10 April 2006 12:12

Fast-response Asbos to help London beat anti-social behaviour in run-up to Olympics.  More...
05 April 2006 12:08

Staff survey shows a reduction in amount of violence at work perpetrated by patients and their relatives.  More...
23 March 2006 08:04

Three immigration officials had sex with visa applicants wanting to extend their stays in the UK, the Home Office has admitted.  More...
16 March 2006 10:34

Several female employees have made complaints about a male manager.   More...
07 March 2006 08:00

People who abuse or threaten nurses and doctors in England will face fines of up to £1,000, under new proposals  More...
27 February 2006 12:08

Employers in Scotland are being urged to take a stand against homophobic bullying in the workplace.  More...
21 February 2006 10:39

How to avoid the pitfalls of office romances  More...
14 February 2006 08:00

Last year, Denis Rader of Wichita, Kansas, was sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences for the murder of 10 people between 1974 and 1991  More...
14 February 2006 00:00

Healthcare Commission praises west country NHS trust for work on bullying.  More...
16 January 2006 08:01

Almost half of air stewardesses have been subjected to lewd behaviour and offensive remarks from their colleagues and managers, and more than one in five said they have been sexually harassed by a passenger  More...
21 December 2005 11:33

A gay policeman has agreed to drop a discrimination case after the Norfolk police force paid him £30,000.  More...
08 December 2005 10:27

UK airports authority BAA is training supervisors to tackle bullying on its £4.2bn Heathrow Terminal 5 project  More...
24 November 2005 09:27

The Department of Health is to launch a programme to tackle workplace inequalities in the NHS  More...
23 November 2005 09:00

The media industry is the focus of a survey on workplace bullying.  More...
10 November 2005 08:11

Here is a selection of your responses to our 'fattism is rife in business' coverage on Personneltoday.com  More...
08 November 2005 00:00

We had a sackful of letters in response to our obesity survey, which pretty much dominated the national news agenda two weeks ago. Some HR people got fired up at the suggestion they might be 'fattist' - and a selection of your angry responses are printed here  More...
08 November 2005 00:00

Conciliation service Acas has launched a new free online learning course to help employers understand and prevent bullying in the workplace  More...
07 November 2005 10:44

The HR profession is getting better at tackling workplace bullying, but more needs to be done to bring the problem under control  More...
01 November 2005 00:00

As the architects and guardians of anti-bullying policies and procedures, HR staff are very often exploited, as can be seen in the results of the Personnel Today/Andrea Adams Trust survey  More...
01 November 2005 00:00

More than half of HR professionals have been bullied at work, predominantly by their immediate manager, according to the Personnel Today/Andrea Adams Trust survey  More...
01 November 2005 00:00

Employers should not be concerned by "alarmist reports" about changes to sex discrimination laws  More...
11 October 2005 00:00

The government has launched a consultation document which would introduce a public sector duty to promote gender equality.  More...
05 October 2005 08:26

New sexual harassment legislation, aimed at tackling discrimination in the workplace, have come into force.  More...
03 October 2005 11:15

Bullying extends across all levels in the UK workforce.  More...
15 September 2005 09:00

Guy Guinan, employment partner at Halliwells LLP, explains the ins and outs of 'mobbing', where people in positions of authority are victimised by those they are responsible for  More...
13 September 2005 01:00

Small businesses are taking more legal risks with workers than their larger competitors, according to research from the Institute of Directors (IoD) and consultancy Adecco.   More...
05 September 2005 09:50

Guide to dealing with bullying outlines key steps to tackling the problem.  More...
16 August 2005 10:54

Brits on breaks kept informed of big work pile up awaiting their return.  More...
11 August 2005 08:30

More than two-thirds of 'binmen' have faced physical and verbal abuse   More...
01 August 2005 09:40

The vast majority of employers have no idea where the line lies between office jokes and harassment, according to research.  More...
28 July 2005 08:20

Leaked document suggests airline bosses tried to make life unpleasant enough to drive workers to accept redundancy  More...
20 July 2005 13:00

Employees responsible for sexually harassing colleagues could face hefty compensation bills.  More...
12 July 2005 12:20

One in 10 women say they are made to feel a burden at their workplace while they were pregnant.  More...
30 June 2005 09:00

More than seven in 10 pregnant women treated unfairly at work are suffering in silence.  More...
30 June 2005 09:00

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and defence secretary John Reid have signed an agreement to confront sexual harassment in the armed forces  More...
23 June 2005 11:45

Case of naked interviewer leads to warning from employment lawyers over jokes during interviews.  More...
15 June 2005 16:18

A man has been sentenced to three years' probation and placed on the sex offenders register after trying to carry out an interview in the nude.  More...
15 June 2005 09:00

You might think Buzau in Romania sounds like a place where too much drinking is a problem, and you'd probably be right. Police there have been told to slim down, or risk losing their jobs. Their new boss, Inspector Viorel Stefu, said he had to take th  More...
14 June 2005 00:00

More than 1,000 incidents of violence or harassment against university staff have been recorded in the past five years,  More...
10 June 2005 15:15

Royal Mail has made progress in stamping out sexual harassment but still has further work to do  More...
10 June 2005 11:00

If an employee complained to their employer that they were being bullied, intimidated and harassed by their department manager, that employer might not expect to face a claim in the county court under legislation which was introduced in the 1990s to tack  More...
31 May 2005 00:00

Medical students have to overcome culture of bullying during training.  More...
04 May 2005 08:00

XpertHR answers questions on legislation relating to cases of harassment  More...
05 April 2005 00:00

Last week, Personnel Today revealed that the government was warming to the idea of holding executives responsible for negligence leading to deaths at work. As a general rule, Guru backs the people at the top because he knows which side his bread is  More...
08 March 2005 00:00

Yale graduate says she was humiliated and harrassed after refusing a colleague's sexual advances  More...
07 March 2005 00:00

The advert attracted complaints from a voluntary organisation that supports women firefighters and the Fire Brigades Union  More...
04 March 2005 11:00

UK employers without a formal office romance policy could be risking costly tribunal claims.  More...
14 February 2005 09:10

More than 85% of managers think people living with HIV still face discrimination in the workplace, according to a survey of employers and employees carried out by the Positive Futures Partnership.  More...
09 February 2005 15:32

A leaked internal report shows that almost half of all women serving in the Royal Air Force have been sexually harassed.  More...
24 January 2005 11:10

The Government should do more to make it easier for people with HIV to find and remain in work, a new study recommends.   More...
18 January 2005 00:00

A group of lesbian prison officers transferred from Holloway Prison after allegations that they ran a regime of sexual harassment, bullying and intimidation claimed they had been made scapegoats for a jail which had been failing for 50 years. Claiming  More...
13 January 2005 10:56

It has been a year since the Employment Equality Regulations (religion and sexual orientation) 2003 were introduced. Aksel Lydersen looks at the impact the legislation has had.  More...
13 December 2004 17:00

How to avoid regretting your Christmas party tomorrow  More...
10 December 2004 15:05

An innovative approach to dealing with sexual harassment issues in the US could help the UK to reduce the seemingly ever-growing list of tribunal cases   More...
23 November 2004 00:00

A former secretary of the Prince of Wales' office has told the Croydon Employment Tribunal in South London, that she was the victim of unfair dismissal and sex discrimination. Elaine Day worked at Clarence House for five years, but claims she was forc  More...
18 November 2004 09:00

Many UK organisations have not taken any action to address recent employment legislation because they believe they will never be taken to a tribunal, according to research. A survey of 1,273 UK employers, from law firm Peninsula, reveals that 62 per c  More...
12 November 2004 16:16

A software company has launched product designed to automatically alert bosses about sexual harassment and discrimination, by analysing the content of e-mails, voice and instant messages. The product by Aungate, a division of Autonomy Corporation, was de  More...
25 October 2004 15:35

A former army trainer at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey has been found guilty of indecently assaulting four young recruits. Leslie Skinner, who served with the Royal Logistics Corps, admitted five charges of indecent assaults between 1992 and 1997 on four  More...
22 October 2004 00:00

Having suffered three months of bullying, a journalist, who wishes to remain anonymous, describes his experiences, and talks to an expert in the field about why HR is so ill-equipped to deal with the problem  More...
28 September 2004 14:43

An initiative from the DTI and the Amicus union aims to help organisations take more proactive approach to dealing with bullying and harassment in the workplace. There is no denying workplace bullying is an issue that needs to be challenged. Studies b  More...
06 April 2004 09:09