Secretarial: Sex, lies and litigation

More and more people use the law to resolve conflict at work. By Kate Hilpern

EVERY DAY, hundreds of secretaries throughout the UK are treated unfairly at work. Imagine you are one of them. Perhaps the perpetrator is your boss and you've been victimised so greatly that you've been unfairly dismissed. Your reaction? An investigation into your employment rights, most likely, with a possible claim for compensation at an employment tribunal.

Indeed, figures released this month by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) reveal a record employment tribunal case-load in 1998, with most claims concerning terms and conditions of employment and unfair dismissal. The number of cases has risen by 6 per cent to 111,923 over the past year alone. So is this a sign that employees finally have the rights they deserve or does litigation have the potential to cause more problems for workers than it solves?

Acas wholeheartedly believes the former. "This increase reflects the greater willingness of individuals to seek redress for their grievances," says John Hougham, chairman of Acas.

Annabelle Stewart (not her real name), a PA from Hampshire, agrees. Having been subjected to sex discrimination by her manager for over two years, she was finally fired by him, leading her to take the company to industrial tribunal. "As in many cases, we agreed on an out-of-court settlement," she explains. "But I still feel I won. If there hadn't been that avenue of litigation, I'd probably still be deeply depressed and lacking enough confidence to get another job. So it quite literally saved my career and - I hope - made it clear to my employer that bullying will not be tolerated."

Nevertheless, according to Frank Furedi, author of a new report published by the Centre for Policy Studies, the more we try to formalise employee relations, the more rules - and, therefore, points of conflict - are established, with the result that arriving at the office can be a more stressful experience than ever.

So what does this mean for the average secretary? "Those with a grievance or injury now turn straight to the law instead of trying to nip the problem in the bud," says Furedi. "In other words, there is no opportunity to say, `Let's go for a drink and try and sort this out.' Instead, there is a particular set of procedures to follow the second you feel you're being `got at'. This has a huge impact of human relations in the workplace because it promotes suspicion and undermines relations of trust."

What used to be termed simply as "office politics", he says, now has "dangerous" labels attached. "Most of us have made a joke at work that could offend someone and immediately regretted it. And most of us find we don't like something about at least one colleague. That's normal and you shouldn't have to feel you could cost your company thousands of pounds when it happens. It makes working harmoniously impossible, thereby causing tension and inevitably conflict as well."

It is also possible, he says, that money can become central in employees' minds, causing them to look out for - and exaggerate - any behaviour that could be considered "unlawful". Indeed, adverts from law firms are already appearing on British television, offering "no win, no fee" representation - a trend that is likely to increase when the compensation limit for unfair dismissal is raised from pounds 12,000 to pounds 50,000.

Debra Allcock, head of campaigning at the Industrial Society, claims that while there is a place for litigation, employees should initially tackle problems with a one-to-one interview. "Concentrate on facts, take the personal out of it," she suggests. "Sometimes people don't know they're doing wrong until you point it out. "

Lynn Witheridge of the Andrea Adams Trust - set up in memory of the journalist who died of cancer in 1995 after spending years uncovering the effects of workplace bullying - agrees. She claims that even in cases of extreme workplace bullying, behaviour can be prevented very early on by a non- aggressive but assertive confrontation by the victim. "But it is often best to get support from occupational heath or personnel prior to confrontation," she adds.

It is also worth remembering that pursuing any litigation is harrowing, costly and time-consuming. Helen Cross (not her real name) is a case in point. She had worked as a PA for a publishing company for two years when discrimination and bullying by her new superior led to her dismissal. "Although the company admitted liability through an out-of-court settlement for unfair dismissal, I was very disappointed with the outcome. I got the maximum compensation possible - pounds 11,300 - but my salary was over pounds 30,000 and now I can't work because of the consequences of stress both from the experience of bullying and of taking legal action. In hindsight, I wish I'd approached the perpetrator, personnel and occupational health before rushing into using the law."

John Cridland, CBI's director of HR policy, concludes: "Research tells us that there is still significant employee dissatisfaction," he says. "Claims are only a symptom of this underlying malaise. We have to go to the causes and be open enough to admit our problems."