Leadership: Swearing in the workplace

Swearing in the workplace is common although the extent to which it happens varies depending on work environment and culture. Leaders and managers in children’s and youth services know it can be a stressful sector to work in. Setting clear standards of behaviour and effective management of complaints about swearing in the workplace helps protect an organisation’s reputation, reduces the risk of legal claims against employers and supports staff welfare.

Know where to draw the line. Managers must decide where to draw the line when it comes to swearing. Discrimination and bullying are never acceptable and the law protects workers – and others including job applicants – from discrimination and harassment on the basis of protected characteristics. Swearing falls into a bit of a grey area. Swearwords aimed at others and said in anger are most likely to cause offence, especially when the terms used could be seen as discriminatory. Language evolves over time and if your workforce is made up of different age groups, people may not agree on whether certain words or phrases are derogatory or have alternative meanings.