Assume as we might that homophobia is a thing of the past – or, at any rate, restricted to the margins of our society, it is very much alive and kicking. The ‘Living Together’ report by gay rights organisation Stonewall has revealed that ‘One in six people in Great Britain have witnessed homophobic bullying in the workplace.’
There are 350,000 lesbian and gay employees in Britain, and almost one in five of them have experienced bullying by their colleagues because of sexual orientation. The situation is 50% worse among lower ranking jobs than within management.
Among the victims of homophobic bullying:
• A quarter have been bullied by their manager
• Half have been bullied by team mates
• Nearly a third have been bullied by people junior to them
The impact of bullying of any nature can be considerable. It can cause mental health issues, breakdown of teams, long-term absence and even financial problems. Consider the cost of dealing with tribunals, or recruiting to replace staff who have left due to bullying and homophobia – and it’s not just the victims themselves who will chose not to work in a culture which condones it. Given how much time companies spend bemoaning the current skills shortage, doesn’t it make sense to protect the staff they have?
And the business case for having a positive image of gay people makes sense, too. As Stonewall points out, the pink pound is a powerful one: ‘Six in 10 gay people, equivalent to over two million British consumers, are more likely to buy products from companies that use images of lesbian and gay people in their advertising.’
How far should companies go to accommodate staff’s sexuality? Should sexuality be kept private at work? And why is homophobia still such an issue in what is surely a reasonably tolerant and enlightened society?
Comments (4)
Posted by Matt Witheridge | April 9, 2008 11:28 AM
Homophobic bullying is certainly not a new dimension to the workplace bullying issue and one that is unfortunately as widespread as it is damaging. Nevertheless it is an issue that is currently being awarded a lot more focus these days following the High Court decision in the case of Equal Opportunities Commission v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, where it was held that the definition of sexual harassment under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 did not fully implement the EC Directive. As a result of this decision, the SDA is due to be amended the definition to bring it in line with the Directive which defines sexual harassment more broadly as "unwanted conduct related to the sex of a person." This will hopefully allow a lot more cases of homophobic bullying to be brought under the SDA.
However it is interesting to see that in the recent case of English v Thomas Sanderson Blinds Ltd, the EAT has held that homophobic banter against an individual who is known to be heterosexual is not harassment under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003.
Posted on April 9, 2008 11:28
Posted by John Quigley | April 9, 2008 11:32 AM
Employers are vicariously liable for acts of discrimination or harassment committed by their employees in the course of their employment, whether or not such acts were done with the knowledge or approval of the employer.
There is a statutory defence if the employer can show that it took reasonably practicable steps to prevent the discriminatory act. Having an equal opportunities policy covering sexual orientation is a good first step, but not sufficient on its own. Companies should at least arrange equal opportunities training for all managers and staff.
Posted on April 9, 2008 11:32
Posted by Sam Clark | April 10, 2008 11:39 AM
At Accenture we are working hard to create a diverse and inclusive environment where people feel comfortable being themselves at work and if any issues are raised by employees we take these very seriously. We have found that our LGBT network has helped foster inclusion within the broader Accenture community. The network’s role is to provide a global and professional support service that promotes both mentoring and a sense of community, whilst educating co-workers on the issues of sexual orientation. It plays an important part in attracting, retaining and developing LGBT employees whilst creating invaluable opportunities for two-way communication.
Posted on April 10, 2008 11:39
Posted by Kate Phizackerley | April 10, 2008 2:49 PM
Within an employment context, it can be important to look beyond the nature of the bullying at the cause.
In some cases, the cause of homophobic bullying is indeed inherent homophobia - targetted at an individual for no other reason than their (actual or perceived) sexual orientation. In other cases, it is possible that the bullying finds a ready outlet through an avenue of homophobia, but the root cause is other tensions between those involved which manifests as homophobia because this is seen either in some way to be more acceptable by the bully or the bully believes that others many lend at least tacit support to his/her actions if dressed up as homophobia. Neither is acceptable but if the issue is wider than pure homophobia it is worth considering whether they bully has other targets as well but with whom the bullying is less overt.
Posted on April 10, 2008 14:49