The Golden Age

The Golden Age of Workplace Fairness is over.

What Golden Age?

Trust me. We’ve had it and it’s gone. This weekend I’m gazing over years past with nostalgia. How could I have created something like my Bullied by the Boss blog in the good old days? How ungrateful was I?

We'd never had it so peachy. Sure, mine was a terrible tale of workplace bullying followed by a sorry struggle of trying and failing to access any kind of real justice – but who knew? Who knew that was the best it was ever going to get?

Recently, we’ve seen reform after reform subverting our employment rights. The latest is the final nail in the coffin. Yesterday, the Ministry of Justice sent out a press release. Next summer, fees will be introduced for the first time at the Employment Tribunal. The fees are in three levels, but bullying/harassment related claims will fall under level 2 or 3, meaning it will cost an employee at least £1,200 in Court fees to take their case to final hearing.

That’s IN ADDITION to whatever your lawyer is charging.

So there it is. I’m suddenly sad and sentimental for the one year period before entitlement to full employment rights and free access to the Employment Tribunal. How warm and liberal it all seems. Perhaps I should have written a blog called ‘Bullied in the Golden Age of Workplace Fairness’.

Which is funny because fair was the last thing it felt. God alone knows what it’s going to feel like now.

Very best

BGAWF (aka BBTB)