Worker Protection Bill Will Make Employers Liable For Customers Upsetting Staff

[Chekhov]

Oh come on, the world really is going mad.

The Lib Dems are trying to introduce a the Worker Protection Bill which will mean that employees can sue their employers if they get upset by a customer.

Surely this is the ultimate example (so far.....) of the over sensitive "cotton wool" society we now live in :

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/04/01/staff-can-sue-their-boss-customers-offend-them-law/

 

New law lets staff sue their boss if customers offend them
Rishi Sunak faces Tory revolt over backing for Lib Dem Bill that could leave employers facing explosion of litigation

New harassment rules on the brink of becoming law will enable medics to sue the NHS if a patient insults them, allow bar staff to take legal action against landlords if they are offended by drunk punters, and let baristas take coffee shop owners to a tribunal if they overhear offensive remarks made by customers.

Senior Tories warn the proposed law will lead to an explosion of litigation and force business owners to run their establishments like a “police state”.

A Whitehall source said ministers were “sleep walking” into a “big expansion” of the Labour-era Equality Act, which Mr Sunak had previously blamed for enabling “woke nonsense to permeate public life”.

The row will come as a major embarrassment to the Prime Minister, who has been seeking to position the Conservatives against “woke” policies that are unpopular with many business owners and working-class voters.

Tory backbenchers accused the Government of “taking their eye off the ball” by supporting a “mad” Private Member’s Bill, sponsored by two Liberal Democrat parliamentarians, on course to become law within weeks.

The Bill was waved through the Commons without a vote during a Friday sitting when most MPs were back in their constituencies.

Ministers are under pressure to ditch or gut the legislation, with backbenchers warning that purported “freedom of speech” protections added into the Bill will do little to save employers from crippling litigation.
The Worker Protection Bill will make employers liable for staff being harassed by “third parties” such as customers or members of the public. It introduces a legal requirement for companies and public bodies to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent this.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, said establishments that “serve the public can expect to run a police state in their business”, while Sir John Hayes, the chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, said it had “sinister implications”. Another Conservative MP, Craig Mackinlay, said he believed the change was “draconian”.

Lord Frost, the former Cabinet Office minister, described the Bill as a “woke, socialist measure” that would “have a chilling effect on every conversation in a workplace”.

Lord Strathcarron, a Tory peer who runs a publishing firm, said bookshops could be put off inviting authors such as JK Rowling to give talks, “on the off chance that one of the author’s fans might be wearing a T-shirt that says, ‘Woman Equals Adult Human Female’, knowing that an employee could sue for hurt feelings – real or vexatious”.

Other scenarios, he added, could include “somebody going into the Dog and Duck ... then insulting the barman, and the barman suing the landlord. Or someone going for an MOT, the car fails, and they slag off the mechanic and the mechanic sues the garage owner. It’s mad and no one’s thought it through.”

Edited April 2, 2023 by Chekhov

[Jack Grey]

South Park have just done a really funny Episode that laughs at the people who want to work from home and need a mental health day off work once a week

 

 

Edited April 2, 2023 by Jack Grey

[Resident]

I think the bill is going too far but I do think that there needs to be something that stops management siding with customers. In some sections of business it's almost sycophantic (right word?) even when it's clear the customer is in the wrong. 

I've had arguments with managers who have berated me for sticking to company policy & Health & Safety directives which then upset a customer who then complained. Said managers have explicitly told me to disregard said policies to make the customer happy. I have always refused, they won't discipline me for it because they know they'd end up on the faeces-covered end of a stick.

[Chekhov]

3 minutes ago, Resident said:

I think the bill is going too far but I do think that there needs to be something that stops management siding with customers. In some sections of business it's almost sycophantic (right word?) even when it's clear the customer is in the wrong. 
I've had arguments with managers who have berated me for sticking to company policy & Health & Safety directives which then upset a customer who then complained. Said managers have explicitly told me to disregard said policies to make the customer happy. I have always refused, they won't discipline me for it because they know they'd end up on the faeces-covered end of a stick.

It depends, and generally speaking I am firmly in the camp that the customer (who is paying everyone's wages) is always right. In my 30 years on business there have been relatively few times when I could hand on heart say my customer was being totally unreasonable. It happens, but not often.

I cannot imagine that any manager would ask anyone to disregard any H&S policy which was genuinely dangerous.

My take on most H&S, certainly most stuff introduced in the last 10 to 20 years, is it's disproportionate and very often doing very little. It's usually about legal positions or, in many cases, just making life easier for the company by using H&S as a reason why they do not have to provide a particular service. Best example recently was a garage that said my lad could not use their loo "due to Health & Safety". It was top grade BS (and it annoyed me, I shan't use them again unless I have no choice).

[trastrick]

On 02/04/2023 at 04:49, Chekhov said:

Oh come on, the world really is going mad.

The Lib Dems are trying to introduce a the Worker Protection Bill which will mean that employees can sue their employers if they get upset by a customer.

Surely this is the ultimate example (so far.....) of the over sensitive "cotton wool" society we now live in :

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/04/01/staff-can-sue-their-boss-customers-offend-them-law/

 

New law lets staff sue their boss if customers offend them
Rishi Sunak faces Tory revolt over backing for Lib Dem Bill that could leave employers facing explosion of litigation

New harassment rules on the brink of becoming law will enable medics to sue the NHS if a patient insults them, allow bar staff to take legal action against landlords if they are offended by drunk punters, and let baristas take coffee shop owners to a tribunal if they overhear offensive remarks made by customers.

Senior Tories warn the proposed law will lead to an explosion of litigation and force business owners to run their establishments like a “police state”.

A Whitehall source said ministers were “sleep walking” into a “big expansion” of the Labour-era Equality Act, which Mr Sunak had previously blamed for enabling “woke nonsense to permeate public life”.

The row will come as a major embarrassment to the Prime Minister, who has been seeking to position the Conservatives against “woke” policies that are unpopular with many business owners and working-class voters.

Tory backbenchers accused the Government of “taking their eye off the ball” by supporting a “mad” Private Member’s Bill, sponsored by two Liberal Democrat parliamentarians, on course to become law within weeks.

The Bill was waved through the Commons without a vote during a Friday sitting when most MPs were back in their constituencies.

Ministers are under pressure to ditch or gut the legislation, with backbenchers warning that purported “freedom of speech” protections added into the Bill will do little to save employers from crippling litigation.
The Worker Protection Bill will make employers liable for staff being harassed by “third parties” such as customers or members of the public. It introduces a legal requirement for companies and public bodies to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent this.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, said establishments that “serve the public can expect to run a police state in their business”, while Sir John Hayes, the chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, said it had “sinister implications”. Another Conservative MP, Craig Mackinlay, said he believed the change was “draconian”.

Lord Frost, the former Cabinet Office minister, described the Bill as a “woke, socialist measure” that would “have a chilling effect on every conversation in a workplace”.

Lord Strathcarron, a Tory peer who runs a publishing firm, said bookshops could be put off inviting authors such as JK Rowling to give talks, “on the off chance that one of the author’s fans might be wearing a T-shirt that says, ‘Woman Equals Adult Human Female’, knowing that an employee could sue for hurt feelings – real or vexatious”.

Other scenarios, he added, could include “somebody going into the Dog and Duck ... then insulting the barman, and the barman suing the landlord. Or someone going for an MOT, the car fails, and they slag off the mechanic and the mechanic sues the garage owner. It’s mad and no one’s thought it through.”

Definitely in the "fiddling, while Rome burns" category.

 

Sad to see a once resilient and eminent culture die before one's very eyes.

 

But a society gets exactly what it deserves, no more, no less!

[Resident]

52 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

It depends, and generally speaking I am firmly in the camp that the customer (who is paying everyone's wages) is always right. In my 30 years on business there have been relatively few times when I could hand on heart say my customer was being totally unreasonable. It happens, but not often.

I cannot imagine that any manager would ask anyone to disregard any H&S policy which was genuinely dangerous.

My take on most H&S, certainly most stuff introduced in the last 10 to 20 years, is it's disproportionate and very often doing very little. It's usually about legal positions or, in many cases, just making life easier for the company by using H&S as a reason why they do not have to provide a particular service. Best example recently was a garage that said my lad could not use their loo "due to Health & Safety". It was top grade BS (and it annoyed me, I shan't use them again unless I have no choice).

In my case it was a customer demanding a service at a location that due to local restrictions set by the local authority isn't possible. 

Now I COULD provide the service at the location, given my experience & additional training, however if anything were to go wrong, our management, despite telling us to do it, would throw us under the bus & deny it to save their own skin. 

As for the customer is always right. Absolutely not. Customers do not know our processes and training. They know nothing of the service we provide otherwise they'd be doing it for themselves. Unfortunately my industry is plagued with unreasonable customers and it's why most employees leave.

[Chekhov]

56 minutes ago, Resident said:

In my case it was a customer demanding a service at a location that due to local restrictions set by the local authority isn't possible. 
Now I COULD provide the service at the location, given my experience & additional training, however if anything were to go wrong, our management, despite telling us to do it, would throw us under the bus & deny it to save their own skin. 
As for the customer is always right. Absolutely not. Customers do not know our processes and training. They know nothing of the service we provide otherwise they'd be doing it for themselves. Unfortunately my industry is plagued with unreasonable customers and it's why most employees leave.

>>Now I COULD provide the service at the location, given my experience & additional training, however if anything were to go wrong, our management, despite telling us to do it, would throw us under the bus & deny it to save their own skin.<<

 

That's just poor management, in fact it's appalling. I was always told to lead from the front, do not try to avoid responsibility and never ask anyone to do anything you would not do yourself. That's the only way to generate genuine respect.

 

>>As for the customer is always right. Absolutely not. Customers do not know our processes and training. They know nothing of the service we provide otherwise they'd be doing it for themselves. Unfortunately my industry is plagued with unreasonable customers and it's why most employees leave.<<

 

I can only say that for my business what I said earlier appertains :

 

It depends, and generally speaking I am firmly in the camp that the customer (who is paying everyone's wages) is always right. In my 30 years on business there have been relatively few times when I could hand on heart say my customer was being totally unreasonable. It happens, but not often.

 

Possibly because it is my own business I never forget who is the boss, and it's not me, it's the customer, they're paying our wages.

Interesting point : one of the main reasons I work for myself is I dislike others being able to tell me what to do, but I have hardly ever felt that way about customers telling me what they want.

[Anna B]

I wish customers would realise that they get much better service by being polite and reasonable with the people serving them.

 

However, the level of stress these days just trying to get decent service or someone to listen to a legitimate complaint (of which there are many) are off the scale. Pure exasperation is what does the damage.

 

If Businesses want customers to be polite they should invest in their employees' training and routinely concentrate on giving good old fashioned service to their customers.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Anna B

[trastrick]

2 hours ago, Anna B said:

I wish customers would realise that they get much better service by being polite and reasonable with the people serving them.

 

However, the level of stress these days just trying to get decent service or someone to listen to a legitimate complaint (of which there are many) are off the scale. Pure exasperation is what does the damage.

 

If Businesses want customers to be polite they should invest in their employees' training and routinely concentrate on giving good old fashioned service to their customers.

You're all being brainwashed, in the West,  Anna.

 

There are people out there who want an ongoing war between members of society, and are fomenting rage against each other!

 

Black against white, straight against gays, men against women, rich against poor, renters against landlords, vegans against meat eaters, civilians against Bobbys, socialists and communists against conservatives, bicyclists against motorists, now customer against shop staff, and on and on infinitum.

 

You do understand that covers EVERYBODY in society, don't you?

 

Thinking folks might want to ask, why is this happening, and who's responsible, and who can possibly benefit from the destruction of community and society?

 

You don't need conspiracy theories to come up with the obvious answer!

Edited April 3, 2023 by trastrick

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, trastrick said:

... Black against white, straight against gays, men against women, rich against poor, renters against landlords, vegans against meat eaters, civilians against Bobbys, socialists and communists against conservatives, bicyclists against motorists, now customer against shop staff, and on and on infinitum. ...