Handshakes 'could be banned at work', says HR expert

Should handshakes be banned in the workplace? Photo / Getty Images

Employers may ban handshakes under new workplace rules to avoid expensive sexual harassment claims, according to a UK human resources expert.

Kate Palmer, an associate director of advisory at human resources consultancy Peninsula, said employers could impose a blanket ban on all forms of physical contact to avoid confusion about what kind of touching is appropriate, reports Metro.

"They [employers] may just say 'no contact at all' because there's no grey area. It makes it simple, but it takes away affection which in some ways is a sad thing," Palmer told Metro.

"Whether that's going too far or not is a question I would pose, because it's contextual. Does shaking someone's hand go too far?"

Palmer told Metro the #MeToo movement had led to employers thinking hard about implementing more 'black and white' policies.

According to a recent survey of 2000 adults by Totaljobs, three out of four people wanted a total ban on physical contact at work.

And interviews with more than 30 senior executives suggest many are spooked by #MeToo and struggling to cope.

"It's creating a sense of walking on eggshells," said David Bahnsen, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley who's now an independent adviser overseeing more than US$1.5 billion ($2.1b).

'Real loss'

Now, more than a year into the #MeToo movement - with its devastating revelations of harassment and abuse in Hollywood, Silicon Valley and beyond - Wall Street risks becoming more of a boy's club, rather than less of one.

"Women are grasping for ideas on how to deal with it, because it is affecting our careers," said Karen Elinski, president of the Financial Women's Association and a senior vice president at Wells Fargo & Co. "It's a real loss."

There's a danger, too, for companies that fail to squash the isolating backlash and don't take steps to have top managers be open about the issue and make it safe for everyone to discuss it, said Stephen Zweig, an employment attorney with FordHarrison.

"If men avoid working or traveling with women alone, or stop mentoring women for fear of being accused of sexual harassment," he said, "those men are going to back out of a sexual harassment complaint and right into a sex discrimination complaint."

While the new personal codes for dealing with #MeToo have only just begun to ripple, the shift is already palpable, according to the people interviewed, who declined to be named. They work for hedge funds, law firms, banks, private equity firms and investment-management firms.

For obvious reasons, few will talk openly about the issue. Privately, though, many of the men interviewed acknowledged they're channeling Pence, saying how uneasy they are about being alone with female colleagues, particularly youthful or attractive ones, fearful of the rumor mill or of, as one put it, the potential liability.

A manager in infrastructure investing said he won't meet with female employees in rooms without windows anymore; he also keeps his distance in elevators. A late-40-something in private equity said he has a new rule, established on the advice of his wife, an attorney: no business dinner with a woman 35 or younger.

The changes can be subtle but insidious, with a woman, say, excluded from casual after-work drinks, leaving male colleagues to bond, or having what should be a private meeting with a boss with the door left wide open.

- With Washington Post