Swearing in workplace

andygb

Lostboy99 wrote: »

Interesting views on this subject, maybe a slap on the wrist is required, I've seen people do worse and get away with it, i take all points of view, a simple ticking off would suffice, after all I have worked there for 6 years with a clean record.

Maybe, but it will not be you making the decision;)

Andypandyboy

DandelionPatrol wrote: »

Where do you get that 'fact' from? OP certainly did not say he did that.

It is what is inferrred from the conversation. It probably went something like this;

Client- What is going on in the office?
OP- Oh, you know, just the ususal BS

asajj

agrinnall wrote:

They could be, I have had clients who were also drinking buddies in the past, and with whom some light swearing in the right environment, which could include on the phone from the office, wouldn't be an issue.

DKLS wrote:

Business isn't always done over the phone or in a crappy office, sometimes deals are done at 4am in a nightclub. in fact some cultures insist on building relationships and getting to know you before deals are signed.

Agreed however regardless of my level of relationship, if my boss heard me saying something like this to someone over the phone , especially a client, it would raise eyebrows. A night club environment and office place are different in that sense too.

OP, not sure what you are on about tribunals but basically it sounds childish. We all make mistakes. If you have a clean record of 6 years, you won't have a lot of issues.

duchy

I used to work in business travel and some of our best customers had PAs who knew how to party hard. I got on really well with them and I'd sometimes go for a drink after work that usually ended up in a trendy West End night spot and we'd all let our hair down. Next morning back in the office on the phone it was back to business speak and not a word would be mentioned about some fairly wild exploits the night before on the business phones.......(kept that for texts ) . Time and place matter.

FBaby

If it did go legal, would it not be how it was interpreted as stating when I said BS it stood for business service and that's how I interpret it. I'm guessing this is a huge grey area in terms of how a lawyer would defend my case.

Considering that it is a term commonly associated with a swear word, it would be for you to prove that these two letters are commonly used to refer to something else in your industry and that your clients are well aware of it. As it is clearly not the case, I think your chances are nil!

Saying that, have they told you that their intention is to get rid of you? They might be conducting a disciplinary for the record, but their intention is only to give you a written warning. However, this way it is on file, meaning that if you do it again (or something else deem inappropriate), they can then dismiss you even more easily.

Johno100

Andypandyboy wrote: »

It is what is inferrred from the conversation. It probably went something like this;

Client- What is going on in the office?
OP- Oh, you know, just the ususal BS

Or alternatively something like

Client- Those chancers at Smiths Widgets [a competitor] said they could beat your price by 30% and deliver the other bespoke product in 48 hours, you and I know that's.....
OP- Just the usual BS.

lisa110rry

d70cw6 wrote: »

lol i work in internal audit at tarmac which operates a vaste number of quarries / cement plants / rmx concrete sites etc.

i hear jolly good profanities from the lads quite often. the damn plebs!

I know what you mean, also work in construction. However, I recall a certain foreman and ganger swearing outside my portacabin office on site once. The Construction Manager (biggest swearer ever!) came out of his office and shushed them saying "don't you see there's a lady present", or words to that effect. Lovely chaps, all of them.

HurdyGurdy

Is BS meaning Business Service a commonly used expression in your office? Is it used all the time - by you mainly, but in general by other members of staff?

Because you didn't explain that you used is as referring to Business Service in your OP, but asked if

Lostboy99 wrote: »

saying BS(not the full word) in a conversation constitute swearing ?

thereby implying that you used it in the context of bovine excrement - and that is how I would have interpreted it if I had heard it.

(I wouldn't have an issue with it being used in the office I work in, but I am used to hearing effing and jeffing all day long)

sean1989_2

I dont know if you resolved already but...
It certainly is quite petty because you didnt say "bullsh..." You said"bs" however, as other posts have said... Its not very professional to be engaging in such coversations with customers with such common slang, i mean, you wouldnt start a conversation like "yo mr smith hows things? " or when they failed a dpa question you wouldnt go " !!!!!! mr smith try again"

I held a disciplinary a month ago with someone who said" bast@rds son" him and his client involved in a conversation about game of thrones... He left with a first written warning is all.

I doubt you face the sack for "bs" albeit unprofessional its not the end of the world unless
You were also reffering to your manager by saying " they are total bs" but i doubt you did

Just suck it in and face your meeting. You said investigation meeting so its not an invite to discplinary yet. Sometimes its best to come clean, say you got lost in the call and apologise for your error, it will never happen again and the compamy has suffered mo detrement as the customer didnt mention it at all.

Rossim1985

Wow eye opening thread! My colleagues all swear though some are worse than others. Thankfully the 'c bomb' is fairly rare as I don't like that much.

It can get worse with a few drinks though! One of our clients almost had a fight with one of our directors after a very boozy lunch a while back. There definitely would have been swearing then!

I do think though that the industry I work in (insurance broking) is one of the more boozy office based jobs which tends to go hand in hand with swearing. Friends of mine who also work in London but in law, for the FCA and another for an oil financial firm don't seem to go out / drink anything like the amount everyone in our industry does!

If I ever had to be tea total I would have to leave the industry. You couldn't do it!