UNITED KINGDOM
Swearing and mocking colleagues is commonplace among Public Servants at the United Kingdom’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) according to a review of the Department’s organisation’s workplace culture.
The report found workers faced abusive and abrasive behaviour and had no confidence in measures to improve conditions.
Produced by former Personnel Director at the major retailer John Lewis, Laura Whyte, the report was commissioned by HMRC’s Executive Committee to review whether the Department met its own standards of respect at work.
It uncovered “a significant amount of so-called low level poor behaviour”.
“Swearing, breaching confidentiality, mocking colleagues, seemed to be unremarkable,” the report says.
“This creates a snowball effect where the environment may not feel a safe space for some colleagues, and more serious or extreme behaviour may emerge.
Reviewer Ms Whyte said she did not find any individual within HMRC who had confidence in the grievance process.
Among the six recommendations for reform in her report was a call for an urgent redesign of the grievance process.
“This should include more widespread and robust use of mediation and early resolution,” she said.
“Other policy areas that are interrelated and would benefit from revision include discipline, conduct, whistleblowing, and how we dismiss, suspend and investigate.”
Her other recommendations included a simplification of human resources policies; improved governance and assurance around recruitment, promotions and appointments, and a review of how work-related absences are handled.
The final report also suggested the Department set out standards of behaviour more clearly, actively signpost what happens when people fall short, and implement a review of the process by which reasonable workplace adjustments were agreed and implemented.
Responding to the revelations, the Chief People Officer at HMRC, Esther Wallington said misconduct and bullying of any kind had absolutely no place in a modern and diverse organisation such as HMRC.
London, 5 February, 2019
