Leading law firm Irwin Mitchell has recently surveyed UK business leaders and line managers to find out if they feel confident in dealing with a grievance from a trans member of staff, or their surrounding team, about their treatment in the workplace.
The statistics show that 76 percent of people in leadership positions feel comfortable dealing with complaints.
However, 15 percent of managers highlighted that they would not be comfortable dealing with a complaint confidently from a trans member of staff, or from their team, about their treatment in the workplace.
Also, 9 percent said they prefer not to say.
Who does not feel comfortable?
The nationally representative survey results of 2049 people in a leadership role show that 15 percent of managers highlighted that they are not confident dealing with a grievance either from or about a trans member of staff in the workplace.
It was also highlighted that the North East of England has the highest number of leaders who would not be comfortable (20%).
Also, a staggering 20 percent of 25-34 year olds would not be confident dealing with a complaint, with those who identify as male being less confident than females dealing with a complaint.
A staggering 10 percent of small business owners would not feel confident dealing with a complaint whilst 21 percent of those wishing to start a business would not be confident dealing with a complaint.
Also, 30 percent of those working in business and finance would not feel confident dealing with a complaint, with 31 percent of those who work in finance/accounting not feeling confident dealing with a complaint.
Interestingly, 33 percent of those in a chairman/chairwoman position would also not feel confident dealing with a complaint.
Why do people not feel comfortable?
Irwin Mitchell also wanted to find out the reason why people were not comfortable and asked them to explain their reasons.
Some themes emerged: a lack of knowledge and training, not feeling equipped to deal with the situation, lack of real-life experience, never having managed trans staff before, difficulty around the subject, uncertainty over the law, not understanding the correct approach to take, anxiety about getting it wrong or saying the wrong thing and not having the correct knowledge or understanding the vocabulary to use.
The survey also asked for the reasons why people did not feel comfortable dealing with complaints about or from trans members of staff which led to responses: “People are far too ready to take offence”, “It’s a no-win situation, very one sided”, “Too old, and I was brought up in a different generation”, “Fear of offending the employee”, “Feels like a minefield”, “Lack of support from higher ups”, “Scared to use the wrong pronouns”.
Charlotte Rees-John, employment partner at Irwin Mitchell, said:
“It’s positive, although quite surprising based on the enquiries we have received, that so many business leaders are confident they could deal with a complaint about the treatment of trans employees in the workplace.
“It can be a polarising debate and I’m not surprised that those who aren’t confident about dealing with these types of issues, worry about causing offence. That’s where good diversity and inclusion training comes in. It should explain the language around this issue, for example what various terms mean and why they are important to trans people, challenge prejudices and encourage staff to accept and respect other people’s points of view, even if they are fundamentally different to their own.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
