Have workplace employee networks gone too far

[Holidayheat]

I work in a large retail bank. We have a long list of employee networks we can join. Disability network, LGBTQ+ network, neurodiversity network, women’s network, staff wellbeing network etc etc. I really fail to see the point in them. I’m a nice liberal minded person. My colleagues are all nice liberal minded people. We aren’t bigoted in any way etc etc. I have a colleague who is heavily involved in the running of a network. It’s not in her job description but must take up about 50% of her time, which for an IT professional is a chunk of money for my employer. I just don’t see the point. Deciding how to best decorate the office for pride. Getting the budget right for Eid celebration event. Promoting a ‘how to do presentations for women’ event.

If we were a particularly backward thinking workplace I could see the benefit, but it’s 2025 and this is a modern workplace. no one gives two hoots as to whether someone is gay, or Jewish, or has a stutter or is in a wheelchair, they are just interested in whether someone can do their job. There is no prejudice these days in most workplaces like ours and to claim there is or worry that there is seems a little patronising. It seems a massive investment for what? Nothing.

We would have a recruitment stand, the same as at any other event - county show, town fair, college and university careers fairs. If it was an event with good footfall, we were there. We wanted to recruit local people to work in policing their communities.

None of those other examples are political though.

The judge ruled that Northumbria Police officers attending Northern Pride in uniform breached their fundamental duty to impartiality, as did their static display at the event and a police vehicle decorated with the trans flag.

The judgment is worth a read:

https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/format.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2025/1805.html

Exactly. The vast majority of the staff at these stands were from HR - the best to give practical advice on applying, requirements and the process. A couple of serving officers on hand to talk about what the job was really like; could be from a network, or not, but it did help give confidence to potential recruits if there was police officer like them to talk to - a woman, a Muslim, a Sikh, a gay woman or man, ex-military services - about what the job was really like.

@BlackCountryWench2
If you read the ruling, the breach of PSED
was because officers wore pride branded badges on their uniforms,
pride branded their vehicles
and marched in the parade rather than policing it

the equivalent of wearing the colours of one team when policing a football match.

BUT
This thread started with the National Library of Scotland staff network over ruling the leadership on what a display should be.
Not a cool move.

What do you mean 'exactly'?

The problem was the political nature of Pride. The police were participating in a political event.

But surely the wider picture is that all businesses have to make money and if they fail to do that they cease to exist. I think a lot of these networks take up so much time and energy that they really affect productivity and make it even more difficult for companies to realise their true profit potential, which ultimately benefits no one.

I mean exactly that - our attendance was not political. We had a stand at a couple of Pride events, the identically branded stall and recruitment materials that we used at all of our other events at colleges, places of worship, careers events, armed forces days, you name it. No officers taking part in marches, parades, no rainbow police cars - just the same police-branded stand that we would take to any community event. A couple of our female police officers subsequently asked to take the stand and materials to some events they were engaged with just for gay women, was that wrong too?

Generally, I think they can be really useful for some people, providing a hook into workplace culture and, sometimes, great advice for people who haven't got an informal network of their own to coach them through the often bizarre ins and outs of how to succeed in the workplace other than by being good at your job.

But occasionally I see examples of networks that have an inappropriate impact on the rest of the work place or that seem like very poor value for money (like having an IT professional spend half their time running one).

How can the police's visible, branded participation in a political event not be political? How can they not be associated with the views and aims of Pride while participating in Pride? How can their participation not give the impression that they endorse those views and aims?

A couple of our female police officers subsequently asked to take the stand and materials to some events they were engaged with just for gay women, was that wrong too?

It depends on the nature of the events and whether they were political, or could be seen to be political.

The judge cited the Police Regulations 2003:

1) A member of a police force shall at all times abstain from any activity which is likely to interfere with the impartial discharge of his duties or which is likely to give rise to the impression amongst members of the public that it may so interfere.

He also cited the College of Policing Code of Ethics:

"Our high expectations demand that we:

… are actively aware of, and identify when, associations with – or advocacy for – any groups or individuals create a conflict of interest or risk to our police work and responsibilities, consequently affecting our ability to discharge our policing duties effectively and impartially"

The judge only ruled on one specific police force's participation in one specific pride event but in light of this judgment all police forces should be considering very carefully their role and participation in all pride events.

Staff networking used to take place outside work hours - that was fine. They've become a way to bully people who are not part of that particular network. Yes it's a failure of management and yes some ideally should be given work time - but when networks become a source of bullying it's time to say get back to doing that in your own time and just do your job.