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Asking an Employee to Work from the Office was not Harrassment
September 3, 2024
The Background
Yolanda Pemberton worked as a legal secretary for a law firm in London called RBG Legal. Mrs Pemberton suffered from rheumatoid arthritis which caused her to experience serious pain in her hands. Because of this, she had worked from home between 2020 and 2023, and RBG had provided her with a large monitor, light-tough keyboard, and footrest. RBG also adapted Mrs Pemberton’s workload and amended her working hours in view of her disability.
The Request
After a period of sickness absence in 2023, RBG asked Mrs Pemberton whether she could start working 2 days a week in the office, as it would be more convenient for RBG to have secretaries spending some time in the office. RBG did not require this to happen, but merely asked Mrs Pemberton if she would do so.
The Case
Mrs Pemberton argued that RBG’s request for her to work 2 days a week in the office amounted to harassment; a form of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. She then brought an Employment Tribunal claim against RBG.
Harassment happens where an employer or a worker does something unwanted (related to a protected characteristic, such as disability in Mrs Pemberton’s case) which creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for a worker. Mrs Pemberton’s case was that RBG’s request that she work 2 days a week in the office met this definition.
The Decision
The Employment Tribunal decided that requesting Mrs Pemberton to work 2 days per week in the office did not amount to harassment. The Tribunal found that RBG had been very reasonable and accommodating about Mrs Pemberton’s disability. The Tribunal also decided that, if Mrs Pemberton had presented good reasons why she had to work from home full-time, RBG would have likely taken those reasons into consideration.
The Lessons
The lessons employers can learn from this case are:
If you require assistance or advice on a harassment case or similar employment matters, please get in contact with a member of our employment team, Nicole Brendel, on 029 2082 9132 or nbrendel@darwingray.com to see how we can help you.
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