• TRANSGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR
ENGLAND
About us...
MY ADVICE...
Accept that the workplace, and your talented workforce, are part of society as a whole and change is inevitable. Embrace this, welcome the changes and foster a culture of inclusivity and openness underpinned by strong company values and leadership from the top. Encourage personal wellbeing in your business. This should include support for mental health issues, a work-life balance and keeping an open mind to how, when and where, your employees want to work. This doesn’t have to mean total flexibility, but a willingness to
accommodate employees’ changing needs will go a long way towards creating a stronger bond with your workers.
Establish robust reporting mechanisms and ensure that workers know they can
activate these anonymously and/or without fear of recrimination or victimisation. A business that genuinely wants to know what is troubling its workforce and is willing to act on their concerns will root out transgressive behaviours faster and cope well with change on every level.
gunnercooke is one of the UK’s fastest growing law firms, providing a wide range of corporate and commercial legal services to businesses, banks and financial institutions. The firm was founded in 2010 to challenge, improve and evolve the way that legal services are delivered. We believe that the legal industry serves neither clients nor lawyers the way it should. Our founders set about doing things differently from day one, flattening out the traditional hierarchy and establishing a new model based upon flexibility, transparency and freedom. All gunnercooke lawyers have a client-focused approach and at least 10,000 hours’ practising experience. They also operate on a fixed-fee basis,
meaning work is scoped out from the outset and cost certainty is guaranteed. As a result, all clients have access to trusted advisors who have a breadth of experience and knowledge, enabling them to work on all matters from straightforward transactions to complicated cases that require complex solutions. The firm has been recognised for 44 industry awards and currently employs over 330 legal professionals and management consultants across offices in London, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Berlin and New York.
still mostly unchanged, the new UK government is preparing to introduce a wide-ranging upgrade of workplace rights when it brings forward the Employment Rights Bill soon. Whilst these are not directly aimed at tackling transgressive behaviour, sweeping changes such as banning zero-hour contracts and extending rights to parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal from the first day of employment, will significantly enhance protections for workers generally. Q2 How does UK legislation around transgressive behaviour compare to cultural perspectives? And how do employers in the UK balance inclusion and cultural sensitivity with protecting company ethos? UK legislation around transgressive behaviour, particularly in the workplace, is designed to protect individuals from harassment, bullying, and discrimination. These laws reflect a commitment to creating a respectful and inclusive workplace. However, cultural perspectives can vary widely in any free society. Although the legal framework is robust, societal attitudes towards issues like gender identity and sexual orientation can differ. Some cultural groups may have more conservative views, which can influence workplace dynamics. The purpose of workplace legislation is to create universal
and working culture that promotes inclusivity and welcomes diversity. Q3 What changes do you feel corporations have to make to challenge transgressive behaviour – and meet changing expectations from employees? An employer that wants to minimise transgressive behaviour and meet the expectations of its workforce should invest in establishing what its values are as a business and then communicating those widely. This also needs more than lip service or simply the appointment of a Diversity Officer in the hope that they will wave a magic wand and make the problem disappear. There are a number of strategies to create a resilient and progressive company ethos. These include clear messaging across the workforce about the company’s core values and expectations of its workforce; developing contemporary diversity and inclusion policies that do more than paying lip service to minimum legal requirements; offering specialist cultural awareness training to all staff (and not just managers); and establishing functional and anonymous channels for reporting transgressive behaviour. However, none of these measures will be effective without active support from the most senior management, who must also undergo the necessary training and conduct themselves as examples of the company’s values.
gunnercooke.com
“Although the legal framework is robust, societal attitudes towards issues like gender identity and sexual orientation can differ.” standards that can be respected by an employer’s entire workforce. However, sometimes it can be challenging for employers to balance their compliance with the law against the beliefs of individuals and communities that differ from the norm. This needs sensitivity and it is important to create a corporate identity
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