Case Study - Banter

When Tim returned to the office, the Finance Manager said that they had always behaved in this way, it is just the way they are, and it even happens in the office. He describes how the office staff refer to Jo as 'grandad' because he is the oldest person in the office. The Director had no idea that banter was not acceptable. He did some further research and spoke to his outsourced HR support company. They recommended a number of actions and emphasised that these had to be supported from the top.  The Director then sent a company-wide email to all employees saying that it had come to light that there was banter being used across the Company which is never acceptable, as even if people appear to be ok with it, they can be offended even when ‘the joke’ is not on them. …