To think you need to watch your language at work?

[Christmascracker0]

I line manage an associate who started in October. Young guy, 23 or 24. At first he was really really shy but he’s come out of his shell now.. and now he’s started chatting his language is quite bad!

Nothing massively offensive just things like “bloody HMRC”, “what the hells that about”, “what a load of shite”.

I am pretty chill as a manager and young-ish myself but I would never use that language to another team member let alone my manager!

AIBU to think this is rude? Or am I just being uptight?

If we were in the office I would pull him up on it but he only works remotely so it’s only me that hears it. If it gets any worse I will say something though. I’m worried it’s because he started work not long before lockdowns (at another firm), so maybe doesn’t know workplace etiquette?!

I know EXACTLY where in Scotland you are now 😂😂😂

We were about to hire someone for our team until I pointed out that his language wasn’t professional enough, not swearing but quite familiar. He didn’t get hired.

Just so much more swearing everywhere I’ve ever worked.

I honestly think it depends on the culture of your workplace. I've managed people who have used language I might not notice but other people have and have told me. You don't want to make it an issue but you could have a very general conversation about how people modify their language depending on who they are talking to.

At my last place of work, swearing was just something that happened on the quiet within your own team/friends. Never in meetings and no C word, all fairly tame in the scheme of things.

There was a lot of stuff going down, people disengaged and leaving in droves. HR heard that “shitshow” was becoming too common a phrase, undermining morale and ‘banned’ it. Everyone was WTAF!! It alienated people even more than the shitshow that was actually going down, it came across like the thought police and trying to manage peoples emotions.

I don’t condone language that could be offensive to someone but can’t get wound up about this. People are human and can have a minor emotional reaction.

I think I agree with you. Swearing is not appropriate in the workplace. I work for charities and I have rarely heard anyone swear.

But we have one staff member at the moment who is doing a maternity cover with us who repeatedly using the F word at team meetings and it really is starting to annoy me.

She stands out for all the wrong reason because nobody else uses that kind of language.

It's very mild. I don't swear at all at work because I work with children so even at break time we're careful about language.
However when I've worked in other places hell and bloody wouldn't even register as swear words.

I used to work in a newsroom which is a high pressure environment, one of my colleagues called our editor "a motherfucker white boy" but now I work in technology and everyone is very polite

Wow, I've worked in offices all my life and he wouldn't raise an eyebrow in any of them! You do sound a bit uptight, sorry.

Ha ha my boss literally rings me and says 'tell her get to fuck', 'she needs to fuck off' etc. Your colleague sounds mild. If it's super against your office culture just let him know 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sorry but your really uptight

Ha I do a sessional job and the manager there regularly refers to people as cunts during hand overs etc

A manager in another department where I work implemented a swear jar, and a rule that if you felt frustrated and needed to vent you had to go outside and vent to a tree. His team HATED him, it was condescending and no one liked being treated like a child. Instead of venting to a tree they would come to my teams office to blow off steam about him.

point is, let people be their natural self, as long as it’s not unprofessional to clients, or really offensive. I swear a lot but I only do it around the people I’m comfortable and friendly with

I work in a school and the language is awful!

Most mornings I am greeted with “good morning cunt face, bitch, dirty slapper” etc I don’t mind as we are all very close but I personally rarely swear at work as I’d worry that I’d say it in front of a student.

It’s definitely the older staff that are the worst so it’s not a generational thing.

I think the odd swear is fine but too much is unprofessional.

I want to work with Sweary Jonathan, he sounds fun.

You’re uptight

To be honest, I think you're getting a hard time here. I'm Scottish and I swear like an absolute trooper but I don't do it at work because you really can't know who'll be upset about it and who'll be fine.

I'd not exactly pull him up, but I would mention it. I think a lot of younger workers aren't that great at tuning into workplace culture but I also think managers have got very scared of what would have been called ' marking your card' in my day because they think it's non-inclusive/not bringing your whole self to work.

I don’t think the examples are that bad but also if you don’t think it’s the right way to speak in your particular office, you can definitely mention to him to tone it down.

You think that’s bad, you should hear us at my work.. we’d out do a sailor. Not just the Language but the things we talk about. (Never in front of customers though) if your in a customer setting I’d ask him to be a bit more discreet but other than that, don’t find it a problem.

I swear all the time at work. My colleague called someone the c word today (not a colleague, they were talking to me about someone on their bus that did something rude - not swearing). Swearing is one of the keys to happiness imo.

I think that language is really mild and it would go unnoticed where I work (third sector). "Fuck" and all its variations are in regular use, albeit not with clients, trustees or external agencies.

I worked in local government for years, and even 30 years ago it was incredibly sweary. One of my colleagues was forever known as TFUC, because after a particularly spectacular cock-up, our manager walked in and said "Where's that fucking useless cunt X?". Even his incoming post was initialled TFUC.

At another council, our chief officer, who was an utter arse of a man, was known as TC. He somehow became aware of this, and thought it stood for Top Cat, the fool.

He kept on doing it with different nationalities he spoke to until one day he forgot to end the call so the customer heard him and went apoplectic. He was marched off the premises.

Why should a person be particularly cautious about swearing around their manager? I don't swear in the office but that's my decision, it is not a deference thing.

Why should a person be particularly cautious about swearing around their manager? I don't swear in the office but that's my decision, it is not a deference thing.

We swear like troopers in my office. Often