- BP requires employees to disclose intimate relationships with colleagues or remove their faces
- Employees were given three months to disclose any matters
- Rules follow Bernard Looney’s dismissal for failing to disclose past relationships
BP risks being hit with employee lawsuits after serious concerns were raised about its crackdown on workplace relationships.
The oil giant announced last week that it has required all staff to disclose intimate relationships with colleagues – including those dating back to 2021 – or risk being fired.
BP’s 90,000 employees, including 4,500 senior managers, have been given three months to bring any issues to light.
Previously, they were only required to disclose relationships with colleagues if there was a potential conflict of interest, for example if one partner was a manager of the other.
The rules follow the dismissal of boss Bernard Looney in December for serious misconduct after failing to fully disclose his past relationships to the board.
The scandal rocked the 115-year-old company and raised questions not only about Looney’s workplace contacts, but also about the company’s culture.
The Irish businessman was stripped of £32 million in wages and bonuses after his dismissal.
Looney was known for standing up for female staff, but there were allegations that he had promoted women with whom he had previously had secret relationships. The policy has been met with much outcry. The staff is particularly upset by the retroactive request for relationship details from as far back as three years ago.
It has generated ‘a lot of ill will’, a City source said.
Employees believe the Looney controversy has caused “problems,” the source said. Lawyers for Top City have told The Mail on Sunday that retroactively demanding information about relationships that reek of the Stasi could be illegal and open the company up to legal action.
Lawyers said applying new rules to previous actions was actually a violation of an employee contract. There are also concerns about invasion of privacy.
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Hina Belitz, partner at Excello Law, said: “I understand the forward-looking change in policy, but looking for information after the fact raises many issues. That seems unreasonable.
“It reaches back into history and exposes the company to claims and unlimited compensation.”
According to City’s speculation, a possible explanation for the change is that BP wants to know how and why some managers have been promoted over the past three years.
Belitz added: “It’s clear they want to see how many employees were promoted through a conflict of interest.”
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BP supports the policy changes, adding that a review of its employment relations rules was planned for this year. It was last updated in 2018. The new policy states: ‘Employees were previously required to disclose and record such relationships if they believed there might be a conflict of interest. Now they are required to disclose intimate relationships at work, regardless of whether they feel they represent a conflict of interest.
‘As a policy that forms part of BP’s code of conduct, failure to comply with the policy may result in disciplinary action.’
The company confirmed this could involve layoffs.
Many companies require employees to disclose all workplace relationships. Last year, ITV imposed strict rules following the resignation of Phillip Schofield over a workplace affair. But lawyers said it is rare for multinational companies to ask for so much past information. Joseph Lappin of Stewarts Law added: ‘I have never seen such a retroactive policy implemented on this scale before. If BP is trying to rebuild trust between employers and employees, this is not the way to do it. A soft touch policy would have been a much better option.”
The company has said the updated rules will not affect new CEO Murray Auchincloss’ relationship with fellow BP high-flyer Julia Emanuele, chief operating officer of its lucrative crude oil trading division.
Auchincloss informed the board of the relationship in July 2020, when he was hired as chief financial officer. When he took over last September, the board confirmed that Auchincloss had a “long-term relationship and his partner also works at BP.”
A fund manager at BP investor Jupiter Asset Management said: ‘Unfortunately this is Looney’s legacy. He set the culture of the top management and now everyone pays for it.’
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