Blogs, news & views

In our recent article for Insurance Post, we explore how insurers can use anonymous reporting data not simply as a record of incidents, but as a valuable source of organisational insight.

Employee safety and wellbeing is still, in many organisations, framed as something separate from “core business”. It sits in wellbeing programmes. It sits in policies, resources, and initiatives that are often well-intentioned but structurally peripheral to how work is actually designed, experienced, and managed.

Bullying, harassment and workplace misconduct remain far more common than many organisations are willing to admit. While businesses continue to invest in wellbeing initiatives and employee engagement, new research into UK workplaces suggests there is still a significant gap between policy and reality.

The legal profession is well positioned to advise organisations on workplace culture, reporting systems and harassment prevention. But new commentary for Practical Law from our CEO and Co-founder, Gemma McCall, questions whether many firms are applying the same standards internally.

New research into workplace bullying and harassment has uncovered a widening confidence gap between junior employees and senior leaders when it comes to speaking up at work.

Bullying, harassment and workplace misconduct remain far more common than many organisations are willing to admit. While businesses continue to invest in wellbeing initiatives and employee engagement, new research into UK workplaces suggests there is still a significant gap between policy and reality.

Bullying and harassment are rife in UK workplaces, but many employees aren’t speaking up about their experiences. We surveyed over 1,000 UK employees – across all levels and business sizes – at the beginning of 2026 about their experiences of workplace bullying and harassment and found a pervasive fear of speaking up.

In this session, Gemma McCall and Charlotte Taylor explored the real barriers to speaking up within NHS Trusts and shared the practical experiences of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Discover how they implemented Culture Shift’s Report + Support™ platform to build trust, support managers, and strengthen their Speak Up culture.

From manipulated images to synthetic video, deepfakes are no longer a distant or theoretical risk. They are already beginning to show up in workplace contexts, creating new forms of harassment that are harder to detect, harder to prove, and significantly more damaging for those targeted.

Regulatory compliance in the workplace has traditionally been treated as a legal and procedural discipline. Policies are written to reflect statutory requirements, training is delivered to ensure awareness, reporting lines are established to demonstrate accountability, and evidence is collected to satisfy audits, regulators, and internal governance structures.

For a long time, the team at a busy partner organisation knew that their current way of working was no longer sustainable. Using Report + Support to receive incoming reports, they were providing a secure and accessible way for people to come forward. Yet when the actual casework began, the process moved away from the digital space and into a world of manual administration.

Behind the scenes, the National Theatre has been driving meaningful cultural change – building an environment where people feel safe, respected and heard. In this recorded conversation, Gemma McCall, CEO and Co-Founder of Culture Shift, speaks with Sarah Dean, People Policy and Engagement Partner at the National Theatre, about why the organisation adopted Culture Shift’s Report + Support™ system and what they’ve learned along the way.

Sexual harassment is a problem that affects millions of workers each year in the UK. It is estimated that 40% of women and 18% of men have experienced some form of unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace, with studies consistently revealing high prevalence levels. It impacts both people and businesses, with significant consequences for employee wellbeing, organisational culture and business performance.

Bullying and harassment remain significant challenges across education and workplace environments, yet reporting levels continue to fall far below actual prevalence. In many cases, people do not stay silent because reporting routes are unavailable, but because they are unsure whether they will be believed, supported, or safe after speaking up.

A practical breakdown of what the Worker Protection Act asks of employers, and how Culture Shift’s platform and Community of Practice support each step.

In a bid to tackle bullying and sexual harassment in the financial industry, the FCA announced in July 2025 that new reporting requirements will be coming into force to tackle instances of non-financial misconduct.

One year on from the Worker Protection Act coming into force, we look at how employers are responding to the new duty and where compliance still falls short.

MasterChef TV presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode are the latest celebrities to be involved in high-profile sexual harassment and harassment cases at the BBC, revealing deep cultural failings and systemic issues, not just within the BBC but industry wide.

Most organisations don’t have a reporting problem, they have a visibility problem. It’s an uncomfortable distinction, because it challenges a deeply held assumption: that if something serious is happening, it will eventually be reported. That formal systems, policies, and escalation routes will surface issues before they become systemic.

Significant numbers of students are still experiencing harassment and sexual misconduct every year throughout their time at university. A 2022 study in the UK found that 20% of respondents experienced at least one act of attempted or forced sexual touching or rape, whilst 52% experienced at least one act of sexual harassment such as sexist remarks or jokes.

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians (FTSU) play a vital role in supporting the NHS by creating a culture of openness, safety, and continuous improvement. We understand that their primary responsibility is to ensure that hundreds of NHS staff in their Trust feel confident, safe, and supported when raising concerns about anything that could negatively affect patient care, staff wellbeing or organisational integrity.

The NHS People Plan places compassionate and inclusive cultures at the heart of the NHS, yet unacceptable levels of bullying and harassment still widely exists across the NHS, described by the BMA as a ‘corrosive culture’.

A look at how the RUH is putting staff wellbeing, sexual safety and inclusion at the centre of its patient and people strategy.

Workplace bullying and harassment is a major problem for employers and affects more than 9 million workers in the UK – that’s more than the population of Wales and Scotland combined. Collectively it costs UK businesses £18 billion per year and according to TUC, it’s the second biggest workplace issue after stress. Acas receives over 20,000 phone calls each year in relation to bullying, signalling it’s a widespread issue that is not being dealt with effectively.