[lg policy] Can staff be disciplined over offensive language?

[Harold Schiffman]

Can staff be disciplined over offensive language?

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[image: Can staff be disciplined over offensive language?]

*By Peter Done <https://www.ftadviser.com/peter-done/>*

*Q:*One of my employees often uses offensive language, sometimes in front
of clients. When is disciplinary action justified?

*A:*Employers striving to achieve a positive and productive working
environment should actively discourage the use of offensive language. It
can cause serious divisions in the teams, and may also result in
reputational damage when clients become exposed to the offensive language.

To know when to take action it is important to define what is meant by
offensive language. To do this, a workplace policy on misconduct or
appropriate behaviour can be used. The policy will outline what is
considered as unacceptable language, making particular reference to remarks
about religion, sexuality, race, age, gender and disability.

The policy should also remind employees that banter will not be considered
as a reasonable excuse for offensive language.

Employees have a duty to treat each other and third parties with respect at
all times. If an employee is suspected of using offensive language,
prohibited under the workplace policy, a disciplinary process can be
carried out under the company’s policy.

A full investigation should be carried out initially and in accordance with
the conciliation service Acas’s code of practice on disciplinary and
grievance procedures.

The Acas code advises firms to hold meetings with witnesses to get their
account of events and accusations, and hold a meeting with the accused
employee to get their account of events and collate other relevant
documents that may be used as evidence. The investigation must be carried
out without any unreasonable delay, as delays could lead to a lack of
clarity in witness statements. The individual leading the investigation
should also not be connected in any way to the allegations.

Depending on the severity of the accusations, it may be advisable to
temporarily suspend the accused employee at the outset. The investigation
results should provide sufficient evidence to hold a disciplinary hearing,
where the employee responds to the evidence put before them. Where the
employee is found to have carried out the misconduct, formal disciplinary
sanctions can be imposed.

The level of sanction needs to be reasonable and should apply in accordance
with the internal disciplinary policy. The employee must be informed of the
outcome in writing and they should be afforded the right to appeal the
disciplinary decision.

*Peter Done is managing director of law firm Peninsula*


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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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