DWP agrees to no-ties approach to work

The
biggest government department has offered to allow its male staff to turn up
for work without a tie if thousands of compensation claims are dropped.

Around
8,000 men working at Jobcentres are preparing to claim compensation after a
clerk at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) won an employment tribunal
claim of sex discrimination last year.

The
DWP appealed against the decision and won the right to a second tribunal, but
the department has now offered not to pursue the case if the claims are dropped.

Talks
between the department and the Public and Commercial Services union are
continuing and a settlement is expected later this month.

Complaints
against having to wear ties emerged after Stockport Jobcentre worker Matthew
Thompson won his tribunal case amid complaints that women could wear t-shirts,
but men had to wear shirts and ties even if they did not come into contact with
members of the public.

The
DWP could be landed with claims worth millions of pounds.

By Mike Berry