Would you report offensive message in a group work chat?

[ChilliPB]

As the title says really. A pretty offensive meme sent as ‘banter’ (not funny and genuinely offensive). It was sent in a group chat - a non-official WhatsApp chat with over 50 people, used for social chat. We have a separate more official group chat for work related stuff.

Options are to pick it up individually with the person (who I don’t know and have never met). Or flag direct to HR. Or flag up to HR but not disclose what was said or who said it and hope they could send a stern but general reminder about behaviour and conduct and the individual wouldn’t actually be identified.

Appreciate its a non-official chat but even so. Really likely to offend some of the members there and also it’s the sort of job where if it came out it would look awful, and I’m worried those that don’t report it could also be in trouble as complicit.

What would you do?!

Oh I agree, I have seen some shockingly poor HR staff during my time.

Ultimately, responsibility for shaping the work culture sits with senior management, with HR just helping to implement. And yes, some senior managers are also very ignorant about EDI issues, so the system is far from perfect.

Ultimately, though, what's the alternative? Employers have legal duties towards their employees so someone has to make these calls, knowing that whatever they decide has the potential to be tested within an employment tribunal further down the line. Knowing this will make most employers stick as closely to the letter of the law as they can, but inevitably some will make judgements that aren't always right. How else do you think this could be managed?

He'd be unlikely to lose his job unless he had a record of that sort of behaviour. If that's the case the responsibility for any consequence lies with him.

People that go running to HR because they are offended are the equivalent of the kid at school who no one likes because they tell tales to the teacher constantly! Either address it directly with the person or simply move on with your life and forget about it!

But can you just 'scroll past'? From what posters are saying above, just being in the chat and NOT reporting is a disciplinary offence?

Exactly 👏

So, you are condoning this type of behaviour?
Bullying by exclusion is psychological bullying.

Your post says a lot about you IMO.

Work group chats should be discouraged, at the very least they should be only for work related things and not general chat.

You are aware that things you can do and things that you can have at home are different in the workplace? You can have porn magazines on display at home but you could probably lose your job if you displayed them openly on your desk at work.

I particularly liked the one of Hassan Nasrallah looking nervously at his electronic toothbrush.
I haven't seen any, but that is a good example of something I would consider not to be Islamophobic nor even offensive, given his role. I'd be very surprised if someone reported that.

I would also add that official work group chats should be administered and overseen by HR and/ or someone senior to avoid situations like this.

In the privacy of your own home- knock yourself out.

At a professional workplace? It’s rather lowest common denominator, isn’t it?
It’s just a no, and it would only be brought in to a workplace to show “you can’t tell me what to do” (I.e a show of dominance.)

It sounds as though it's you who hasn't left the playground if you are comparing reporting a colleague for possibly racist content on a work group chat to a child 'telling tales' to the teacher.

You are deliberately twisting what I’ve said, in your virtue-signalling attempts.

Nowhere have I ever said or implied that "sniggering at blowing up children" is acceptable. As I’m sure you know really.

Group chat using work equipment that is used to circulate any racist, sexist, homophobic content should be reported to HR. We had this happen at work recently and the team members were suspended pending investigation. Our company are very clear through training that offensive "banter" is unacceptable in the workplace and that there are repercussions. What are your company guidelines OP?

This your not in school deal with it yourself. Tell poster it is inappropriate an it needs removing.

Unbelievably, my original reply got deleted, so I am going to rephrase to remove what I presume was the issue. The reply was a general one rather than personalised, which I admit is easy to confuse given that ‘you’ is more common in everyday usage compared to ‘one’

Sniggering at children being blown up is, in my personal view, something which renders one contemptible.

That applies equally whether the child has family members in Hezbollah or Hamas, whether the child is Druze, of whether the child is Israeli.

Believing that some designated groups of children might be legitimately blown up and then their deaths sniggered at is, for me, an indication that one has utterly lost their moral compass.

I don’t disagree with any of that. But I haven’t seen anyone on this thread say, or imply, anything to the contrary. I certainly didn’t. Nor have I seen any indication that the post the OP found offensive had anything at all to do with children. (In fact if the meme in question was to do with adult sexual activity or with anyone having been carrying a pager in their pocket, it was obviously referring to adults.)

I know that, but it appears that the following groups disagree:
(a) OP’s colleagues
(b) the “No one likes a grass”/“Go snitch to teacher” crew.
(c) referring those killed as “designated terrorists” with the implication that it’s actually tickety-boo.
(d) the supporters of groups (a), (b) or (c) which it seems to me you are part of. Though I am happy to stand corrected on that.

But posters are saying doesn't matter its not work equipment, or at work. They're saying any form of discussion/engagement you have with someone who has the same employer as you is subject to investigation/scrutiny at any point?

It's a group chat with 50 colleagues, some of whom have never met each other. It only exists because they share the same employer. It is not the same as a private chat between friends.

It should absolutely be regarded as an extension of work, and could be used as evidence in a potential employment tribunal. The fact that some people don't seem to know this doesn't mean that it isn't true.

Well that should be made explicitly clear in contracts? Any communication you have with any work colleague, even if not initiated by you is liable to lead to investigation should someone else be offended by something.
Can you then refuse to engage with any work colleague including management over any form of communication other than work telephone call or email?

It isn't about the contract or how a particular employer might choose to investigate things. It applies to all organisations.

If an employee takes a discrimination claim to tribunal, they might well choose to produce evidence from a work chat to support their case. The employer can't just choose to distance themselves from this, and if it is found that they should have reasonably been aware of the chat and/or its contents, they may potentially be found liable.

I do agree though that all employees need better training on these issues. That is very clear from this thread alone.

And what powers do employers have to seize personal devices? 'Hand over your phone or you're fired'? If people don't will they only need what's on the complainents device?
How long would the investigation take and for work to have people's property?