HR protects sexist City bosses from sack, say MPS

HR DEPARTMENTS are protecting sexist City bosses from the sack by “prioritising the reputation of the business over the well-being of employees”, MPS have warned.

The Commons’ Treasury select committee has raised concerns that women in finance are afraid to speak out about abuse in the workplace because of perceptions that the City is a “man’s world”.

Increasingly powerful HR departments are also failing to protect victims of abuse, the committee warned.

Women who have faced harassment at work believe that their HR teams are merely “focused on protecting the firm rather than the victims”, MPS said.

The concerns have emerged as Britain’s HR sector balloons, with salaries in the industry amounting to around £25bn compared to £15bn in 2017.

More than 450,000 people, or 1.6pc of all workers, are engaged in “the people profession” compared to under 1pc in 2004.

It also comes amid high-profile allegations of sexual misconduct by hedge fund chief Crispin Odey, whose hedge fund has been shut down in the wake of the scandal.

A former receptionist who worked for Mr Odey until 2018 alleges she told a HR executive about incidents involving the tycoon but was told no one else had ever made similar allegations, according to the Financial Times.

However, the FT subsequently reported that Odey Asset Management had received formal complaints about its founder’s conduct in 2004 and 2005.

Mr Odey has repeatedly denied most accusations of sexual misconduct, though he admitted grabbing a colleague inappropriately. He told the FT: “The girl concerned did work for me in 2005 and I did grab her breasts and it was reported and investigated ... I had just come back from having two hours [of] canal root fillings and was under heavy medication.”

The hedge fund chief is facing a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment from two women and three more applied to a London court to join the case yesterday, Bloomberg reported. Mr Odey is contesting the case. In 2021, he was cleared by a judge of indecently assaulting a junior banker in an incident alleged to have taken place in 1998.

MPS raised their fears about HR in a report reviewing how to tackle sexism in the City published today. The select committee said it has found a “shocking” prevalence of sexual harassment and bullying, and progress on stamping out sexism has moved at a “snail’s pace” since a review into the issue in 2018.

It recommended a ban on the use of non-disclosure agreements in sexual harassment cases and stronger protections for whistleblowers.

MPS also called for accusations of workplace abuse to be investigated through a “separate, more independent process” reporting to the board, rather than HR departments.

Harriett Baldwin, chairman of the committee, said: “There have been several high-profile cases which show the existential risk to firms who don’t tackle sexual misconduct. We also know that more diverse organisations perform better, so inaction is not only immoral but bad for growth and business.”

The committee also called for a ban on prospective employers asking job applicants for their salary history in an effort to lower the gender pay gap, which in the UK grew from 14.3pc to 14.5pc in 2022, well above the global average of 13.5pc.

PWC, the accounting giant, said last week that a “motherhood penalty” and a failure to support women going through menopause has sent gender equality into reverse in Britain.

However, Ms Baldwin warned regulators not to introduce “tick-box exercises” that burden companies with red tape and tend not to apply to many smaller City firms, which can “have some of the worst cultures and levels of diversity”.

‘Several high-profile cases show the existential risk to firms who don’t tackle sexual misconduct’