On April Fools’ Day, many workplaces may be tempted to embrace humour and light-hearted banter. While friendly joking can help build relationships and boost morale it’s very important to remember that what one person finds amusing may be offensive to another or even unlawful.

A relaxed working environment is often linked to improved productivity and employee wellbeing. However, “banter” is not a defence when comments become inappropriate.  Sadly, jokes related to sex, race, religion, sexual orientation or age remain one of the most common forms of workplace harassment in the UK.

Under the Equality Act 2010, harassment is defined as “unwanted behaviour that violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment”. Importantly, intent is irrelevant, comments meant as jokes can still be classed as harassment if they have a negative impact. While harassment is often associated with repeated behaviour, a single incident, such as a discriminatory remark, can be enough to trigger a claim in a tribunal court.

Workers have brought claims after being labelled things like “half-dead Dave”, “dinosaur”, or “menopausal”. These comments, although often dismissed as workplace humour, have been linked to age and sex discrimination claims.

In X v Renrod Ltd, a female employee succeeded in a sexual harassment claim even though she had previously participated in sexualised workplace banter. The tribunal made clear that “participation does not mean the behaviour is welcome”.

Recent findings from law firm GQ Littler highlight the scale of the issue. The firm reported 57 employment tribunal cases linked to workplace banter in 2024—more than one per week. Many involved so-called “jokes” that were racist, sexist or homophobic in nature. Such claims can be particularly damaging, with compensation for discrimination and harassment cases uncapped and reputational risks to the employer, significant. High profile cases have hit the news in past years with employers such as EasyJet, Halifax Bank of Scotland, PWC and the BBC coming under scrutiny.

At Advo we would urge employers to take proactive steps.  These include ensuring your dignity at work policies are up to date and providing regular repeat training to your staff on what is and what isn’t, acceptable. It is crucial to ensure that your policies make clear how your staff can report any concerns and that any complaints are swiftly dealt with.  This extends to outside of the workplace where employees can still be held vicariously liable. Even outside normal work hours or on messaging apps, and with remote work and new communication styles “blurring traditional boundaries”, businesses must have clear policies and training in place to prevent issues before they “escalate”.

A simple test might be this – if a comment would cause embarrassment if repeated outside the workplace, it is unlikely to be appropriate at work.

While humour remains a valuable part of workplace culture, the line between banter and harassment can be thin – and crossing it can carry serious consequences. 

Here at Advo we can review your existing policies, deliver training to your managers and staff around all areas of dignity at work and provide practical advice on creating a respectful and compliant workplace culture.

Article written by Sam Brown, Advo HR Consultant