In just 42 short days, something big is changing.
And it has huge implications for golf clubs that give their members carte blanche to behave however they like.
From 30th October this year, you, as the employer, can be held liable for third-party harassment of your staff.
To avoid said legal action and defend yourself at a tribunal if you’re accused, you’ll need to show you’ve taken all reasonable steps to protect your staff.
Sadly, I saw a recent occurrence that’d fall squarely into that ‘no reasonable steps, definite tribunal loss’ category.
The club in question had hired a freelance food & beverage manager to improve their service.
One of the directors recommended the manager, and he got the job with no due diligence, no interview process, and no references.
Unsurprisingly, this led to something of a God complex, with the manager believing he had special status within the club.
Which meant that when things didn’t improve, and staff morale went down, it was nothing to do with him.
Things continued to deteriorate to the point where, during a conversation with female staff who were concerned about the quietness of the halfway hut, he suggested a novel idea:
“You should get naked, that’d drum up some business!”
This is a suggestion from a line manager to a female employee.
Not banter, not a joke. Sexual harassment, plain and simple.
We got statements from those in the meeting confirming those words were spoken.
And then we fired him.
No process required because he was a third-party contractor with no employment rights.
At least, we recommended they fire him.
The director who recommended him wasn’t so sure that was the right course of action.
Instead, he maintained that the manager had been unfairly treated.
Apparently, “it must have been taken out of context” and “it was just a joke; people are so sensitive”.
Oh, and we should definitely have given the manager the same rights as employees, even though he had no entitlement to them.
The long and short of it?
The harassing freelance manager is still in post.
The actual employee is off sick.
And the board think that they have “stuck one to woke culture”.
Our advice is always to protect the Club, and I really hope the freelancer finishes his time there with no further incidents, but experience has shown that’s highly unlikely.
There will be more incidents, and one of those times the Club will be sued and will lose.
From 30th October, it simply won’t fly.
Don’t let your board become a test case.
And if you think they might be, start your contingency fund now.
