Would you go to HR about work colleague’s budget comment

[Rayaj]

I brushed this comment off but a colleague I spoke to earlier thinks I should look to report it.

I am a Northerner working down South. My line of work meant our team had a close eye on the budget.

On our team call on Thursday, someone was being very vocal about benefits. I spoke up to say I’m glad that those who need looking after in Society are taken care of. He basically replied ‘typical scouser, always wanting something for nothing’ which I refuted there and then.

I didn’t really think anything more of it until my colleague mentioned it to me today.

Was I right to brush it off and not report?

I wouldnt report it but plan a comeback for next time. But as a scouser
I don't think other people realise how tiresome it gets everytime you met another brit they say something like oh watch your wallet or some other 'funny' joke.....not quite the same as being considered rude if your from London.

If you don't want to piss people off and be insulted then don't engage in political discussion.

I would. It sounded inappropriate ( not racist or nationalistic but you know what I mean) and might affect how this individual perceives you and your worth in this workplace.

And it is all the time. So tiresome.

Agree.

FGS. Deal with it at the time. Does everything have to be reported? MN would have you believe everyone is rushing to HR over absolutely anything.

If they were a generally nice coworker trying to be funny I'd ignore it but raise a bit of an eyebrow. If they had form for being a dick I'd tell their manager. I get my hackles raised by some of the stuff southern industry peers think and say about northerners, tbh. Some are genuinely convinced the second you get outside the M25 it's a post industrial wasteland of scroungers and layabouts.

I’d report it. They were classist and showed regional prejudice towards a colleagues origin.

As a Yorkshirewoman I usually get jokes about being cheap. Even if I’ve just bought a round it’s ’oh look who’s stuck her hand in her pocket, that’s a rare sight’ when I never fail to buy my round!

His comment about Scousers was out of order but you were being both political and sanctimonious, so his reply about benefits was fair debate. I'd chalk this one up to experience and let it go.

My mother was from Liverpool so I resent hearing comments about this. My Dad was from a town in the NorthEast that receives the same kind of comment (monkey hangers). I hate it.

If that had happened to another person in a meeting that I attended, I would report it myself if I thought it needed reporting. It's your call, OP, if you feel you dealt with it satisfactorily in the moment you've no obligation to get involved in a formal complaints process unless you want to.

No for goodness sake. People are entitled to have a view. Surely you can deal with him without running to HR...

Lazy stereotypes about a person's place of birth are not opinions. They are slurs. I would report it if it happens again.

What kind of world do we love in when caring about our fellow human beings is called virtue signalling.

This is why I'm grateful my older siblings terrorised me my entire life. My sarcasm and come backs are top notch thanks to them. 😂

Don’t discuss politics at work. You are both entitled to your opinions but work is not the place to voice them. What would you want from reporting him to HR? Do you want him to lose his job?

I don't think it's his politics that the OP was considering reporting but his slur on being a Liverpudlian. It would have been possible to discuss different opinions without him resorting to that.

If we all look around us we can see the world that's been created with benefits bashing.

I had a political argument with a colleague who was moanimg about having to pay tax on her upcoming local government pension - which with everything else will give her a retirement income of around £30,000.

It didn't get personal and the words "Typical entitled Boomer" stayed in my head!

Lol, odd, because my comebacks are good, usually accompanied by a sweet smile, and I had a horrendous older sibling too.
There is something very satisfying about putting a smart Alec in their place.

You’re not entitled to express the view that people from a certain place are scroungers though… not at work to someone of that group. What’s next? Calling people of certain groups smelly or criminals or thieves? What happens if you replace the place/region with a foreign one?

Professional boundaries breaxhed and your team needs its heads knocking together.

Report it to me and I'll smile sweetly, be empathic, ask you what your solution is and ask you to speak to your manager and resolve it locally. Meanwhile I'd send your line manager or directorate lead the orof boundaries policy and tell them to embed it

Then I'd roll my eyes, say an inward FFS and wish your team would grow up.

She said that they had to keep a close eye on the budget for work purposes, so they had a very good reason to be talking about politics in a meeting, but that's no excuse for her colleague be offensive. Politics is pretty central to some jobs, and it in appropriate not to talk about it in meetings...

Good to know you roll your eyes at discriminatory, classist behaviour at your workplace.

I roll them at petty behaviour, exhibited by immature staff who are unable to conduct themselves professionally.

The last time I looked I didn't see regional differences or class on the list of protected characteristics - therefore the comments can't be regarded as discriminatory.