Avoid Lawsuits, Take Training Seriously

It’s all over the news today about allegations of sexual harassment, racism and bullying at McDonald’s food outlets. This isn’t something that has just come to light; multi million dollar lawsuits in the US for sexual harassment are currently being brought by employees. Five years ago 1000 allegations were made in the UK to the union that represents bakers and food workers. This is despite more than 2000 managers completing training to try and address the problems in the workplace, however employees have reported that managers didn’t take the training seriously.

Other lawsuits for discrimination are numerous, with the following examples being won by the claimant in the last year:

• Green JobWorks for refusing to hire female workers
• The British Bung Manufacturing Company Ltd for unlawful harassment
• Turning Point for disability discrimination
• CGD Europe for discrimination against gender-critical beliefs

In the UK it is not a legal requirement to provide training on equality, diversity and inclusion, however ACAS advises that staff are trained in understanding their employers policy on adhering to the Equality Act. Also that training should “show why it’s important to value everyone’s differences and how to do this”. They go on to say that managers should have training that “helps them see the importance of their role in shaping your workplace culture”.

If you’d like to find out more about online training on equality, diversity and inclusion, including topics such as sex discrimination, LGBTQ+ awareness, gender discrimination, unconscious bias select:

Sources:

https://www.acas.org.uk/improving-equality-diversity-and-inclusion/making-your-workplace-inclusive

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65388445

https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1809386/ten-key-employment-law-cases-2022