DLP.blog

Reed, all about sexual discrimination

The Manchester Employment Tribunal has ruled that Reed, the UK’s leading specialist recruitment, and one of their Regional Directors, Mr. Heath Bartmanis, subjected a former employee to sexual discrimination.

The hearing at Alexandra House, Manchester yesterday (Wednesday 24 March 2010), found that the comments and behaviour of Bartmanis towards former Reed Recruitment Manager Jackie Hinchliffe to be “entirely inappropriate.”

Ms. Hinchcliffe alleged that Bartmanis deliberately discriminated against her when he found out she was pregnant and instead, favoured a male colleague of Ms. Hinchliffe’s that he was having sexual relations with.  The tribunal heard evidence from witnesses that Bartmanis attended Ms. Hinchliffe’s sons’ christening and took the mentioned male employee along with him and “displayed a closeness suggestive of an intimate relationship”.  In their judgement the tribunal found the evidence of Bartmanis to be “not believable or credible” and that he was having relations with a male member of Ms. Hinchliffe’s team; an accusation which has always been denied by Bartmanis and Reed.

It was found that Bartmanis had pursued a catalogue of behaviour which included inviting members of staff present at the company Christmas party to “act like a pack of wolves” to get her out of the company,  Ms. Hinchliffe being the only female member of staff.  Bartmanis also made comments about Ms. Hinchliffe looking a mess and “like a bag of s**t” after returning from maternity leave and that she was “not the (professional) person she used to be”.  Reed have a dress policy of wearing suits for work but it was stated by Bartmanis that he had an issue with the fact Ms. Hinchliffe did not wear make-up and scraped her hair back.  The tribunal also found that Bartmanis’ decision to initiate a disciplinary procedure based on income against Ms. Hinchliffe for missed targets when the same action was not taken against a male employee in the same position to be sexually discriminative.  This was again a procedure initiated by Ms. Hinchliffe’s direct line manager, Bartmanis.

Reed have always denied any acts of sex discrimination against the Claimant but the tribunal held Bartmanis’ comments were “entirely inappropriate for a manager of his position” and ruled in Ms. Hinchliffe’s favour on the sexual discrimination claim of both the disciplinary procedure and the comments relating to her appearance.  Ms. Hinchliffe and her solicitor Ian Proctor, on behalf of Human Resource and Employment Law advisors Direct Law and Personnel, called the ruling a victory.  Speaking outside court yesterday Ms. Hinchliffe said, “I am delighted that his (Bartmanis) unprofessional and inappropriate behaviour has finally been acknowledged and recognised; it’s a great day for all working women and working mothers.  Despite what anyone believes, this case has never been about financial gain for me but ensuring that my previous colleagues never have to go through what I did.”

This judgement is sure to tarnish the reputation of Reed Personnel, a company which has been providing recruitment solutions to employers and jobseekers for over 46 years.

Ms. Hinchliffe was awarded an undisclosed amount in compensation.

March 30, 2010

Extended maternity pay scheme increases the risk of mothers being made redundant

Following the passing of new draft legislation to extend fully paid maternity leave to 20 weeks across Europe by a committee of the European Parliament, Judith Fiddler, Managing Director of HR specialist Direct Law & Personnel, believes this will increase the chances of mothers being made redundant following their maternity leave.

Currently UK employees are entitled to 52 weeks statutory maternity leave. Those who qualify for statutory maternity pay (SMP) receive 90% of their pay for the first six weeks, and then the next 33 weeks at either the standard SMP rate of £123.06 or 90% of their average gross weekly earnings – whichever is the lowest. The remaining time is unpaid.

Judith comments “The additional redundancy risk doesn’t arise specifically from any extra cost concerns because employers can recover most of this from the state.

“However higher pay makes it more likely that employees will stay on their maternity leave for a longer period, hence employers are forced to re-allocate their role either to a temporary person or more commonly by dividing the duties between the remaining team members.”

“When a role is being reassessed because of a maternity period and because it is often then divided up, the longer the person is away the more likely it is that an employer will begrudge paying their salary on their return to work.

“The job may have effectively gone and a legal redundancy situation may occur as their role is no longer present in the company because the working practices of the business have changed.”

This means employers are stuck between their natural desire to be fair to the employee and the need to keep the business running efficiently.

Lord Young, the UK’s Employment Relations Minister, commented recently “We already have a generous system which is better than many European Union countries and works well, balancing the needs of businesses and workers.”

The 20-week plan will go before the European Parliament early next month.

March 11, 2010

Direct Law & Personnel Continues Expansion

Following the internal promotion of Allison Dawes to HR Advisor, Bury-based HR and employment law firm Direct Law and Personnel have continued their expansion, appointing Natasha Ricioppo to the role of HR Coordinator.

Natasha graduated with a First Class Bachelor of Laws with Criminology (LLB) from Keele University and is now keen to put her knowledge into practice. DLP work with a range of clients offering both HR and Legal advice, meaning Natasha’s studies will be fully tested.

Judith is delighted with both new appointments, saying, “We pride ourselves on the quality of our staff. Allison has been promoted for her excellent work, and Natasha is a great addition to the company. Her legal background is important as we combine employment law advice with HR services to give the customer a complete package.”

February 11, 2010