Posted Date: 6th March 2025
Research by GQ Littler found that 57 tribunal claims relating to inappropriate workplace jokes were heard last year.
Banter is often the label given to jokey comments and actions, but labelling it as banter doesn’t take away the impact it has on an individual.
There is a thin line between banter and bullying which can depend on both the intent of the person delivering the comments or actions, and the impact on the individual. It is also more likely to be viewed as bullying if there is an imbalance of power.
The overall impact is usually as a result of numerous incidents. According to the research, many of the tribunal cases started as harmless situations, however there was a lack of management intervention, situations escalated and lines were crossed.
The cases, which amount to over one per week, included comments of a racist, sexist and homophobic nature. When a person is subjected to unwanted conduct related to a ‘protection characteristic’ (such as gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation) which violates the person’s dignity, or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them, the behaviour is defined as Harassment.
Harassment is a form of Discrimination, which is unlawful under The Equality Act 2010. There is no limit for tribunal payment awards related to discrimination.
Examples within the cases include:
An employee complained of sexual harassment disguised as ‘banter’ when their colleague placed his arm around her neck and asked for a kiss
An employee reported that jokes made by their female colleague were inappropriate, who allegedly called him “babe”, told him she “found brown men attractive” and asked to be his “work wife”
Two employees took part in ongoing ‘banter’, calling each other ‘bald’ and ‘fat’, before insulting each other’s partners
The tribunals for these cases reviewed the employer’s failures to prevent behaviour from escalating. It is important to remember that employers are liable for acts of harassment carried out by employees, regardless of whether they knew it was occurring. However, you can defend claims by showing what reasonable steps were taken to prevent harassment from taking place, such as Bullying and Harassment training and thorough policies and procedures.
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