Can employer enforce to wear name badge which includes surname

bertiewhite

mattvolatile wrote: »

I think it's reasonable to not want to share your surname publicly if you don't want to.

Isn't that what the OP is doing anyway, by being on social media?

DigForVictory

The employer can issue one, but I can loose it in seconds.

esuhl

DigForVictory wrote: »

The employer can issue one, but I can loose it in seconds.

What? A job?

System

JGB1955 wrote: »

I totally see the issue - there are only 21 people in the whole of the UK with my surname. I would consider it totally unnecessary for my surname to be bandied around to Joe Public.


My work life is a totally different place to my home life. There should be no cross-over unless I want it. I don't!

Why, what you got to hide? :-)

TBagpuss

Undervalued wrote: »

So you would be quite happy not to know the real name of you children's school teachers? Your doctor? Your dentist or indeed any police officer you interacted with? You would not want to check that your gas fitter was legally registered?

In my opinion, in all but the most exceptional circumstances I think it is a fundamental right to know you are dealing with. Hiding identity is open to all kinds of abuse and it is not the right way of solving a problem, if indeed there is a problem to solve. As I have indicated virtually every "professional" is prohibited from disguising their identity when dealing with clients so why should other occupations be any different?

I think it is huigely dependent on the situation.

If you are dealing with (say) the recpetionist at a hotel, or the cashier in the local supermarkey, it doesn't mattter in the slightest whethr you know their rela name. All that matters is that you have *a* name which you can use to identify them if you ned to - for insatance, if you needed to make a complaint, leave a commendation or explain who you spoke to.

There are some professions where it may be appropriat ot know someone's real name - as others have mentioend, if you want to check that they are registered with the appropriate professional bodies, but even then, it doesn't actually make an diference to uou if the name they are using is their 'real#' name, as long as the name they are practicing under is the name their professional body knows.

Many professional women, for instnace, continu to practice under their maiden names even if they chose to change their surname on marriage for use in their personal / private life, and no, it wuld not bother me in the sligtest.

Similarly, trans eople may have adopted a new name matching their geder identity well before they are able to jump through all of the hoops necessary to have that recognised legally, and again, that's no-one's business but their own.

In terms of the specifc question about whether I would be happy not to know my Doctor's real name? Yes, I would. What specifcally do you think the problem with not knowing is?

In fact, whole she isn't *my* DOctor, I have a cousin who is in exatly this oosition. She is a doctor, and she qualified before her marriage. On marraige, she chose to take her husband's name, which happens to be very long, diffiuclt for many english speaking people to pronounce, and very unusual in the country. She contimues to practice under her maiden name so her patients don't know her real name. Because there is absolutely no reason why they would need to.

There are also lots of reasons why people might not be comfortable with wearing a name badge with their full name on - particuarlly if they are in a role wheich means they deal with the public on a regular basis, because there are a lot of very weird and scary people out there. Perhaps you have been lucky enough not to have come across them, r to have had any experiences which would enable you to understand why not eveyone is comfortable with mking their name know toevey random cutomer, but that doesn't mean thatthere are not many genuine reasons.

Undervalued

TBagpuss wrote: »

In terms of the specifc question about whether I would be happy not to know my Doctor's real name? Yes, I would. What specifcally do you think the problem with not knowing is?

In fact, whole she isn't *my* DOctor, I have a cousin who is in exatly this oosition. She is a doctor, and she qualified before her marriage. On marraige, she chose to take her husband's name, which happens to be very long, diffiuclt for many english speaking people to pronounce, and very unusual in the country. She contimues to practice under her maiden name so her patients don't know her real name. Because there is absolutely no reason why they would need to.

The doctor must practice under the name that appears on the GMC register. If they change their name by marriage (or any other reason) they must update their registration to match. As you say many female doctors choose to continue to practice under their maiden name but use their married name for non work purposes. What matters is that the patient knows who they are seeing and can easily check their registration and speciality with the regulatory body.

Given that virtually all "professionals" have to behave in this way, I fail to see why it is a problem for others.

Yes it is easy to cast up examples where it is hard to think of a reason why customer / client would need to know but there are lots of grey areas between the checkout operator and the consultant neurosurgeon!

The large GP practice I use do not wear name badges but there is a board in reception with photographs and full names of all staff, both medical and administrative. The doctors and nurses full details are on the website including GMC / NMC registration numbers and both year of qualification and all professional memberships.

njm123

For me it would depend what the job is. My concern would not so much about social media that can be managed but rather as in case the family name is unusual and ripe for jokes or comment..

That's not an issue in my normal professional world but it could be if I was working in a public facing role particularly one where people are unhappy with what your employer requires you to do and are looking to be nasty. The jokes stop being funny when the its 15th time in a day you've heard someone make it..

whitegoods_engineer

Just announce to your employer that you have changed your name and give them the new name. There's nothing in law stopping you from changing your name and there's no legal process to go through either.

Barny1979

DigForVictory wrote: »

The employer can issue one, but I can loose it in seconds.

Is the lanyard loose? If so, you might lose it.

vroombroom

I work for a bank in a call centre and often have angry customers demanding my full name, which I politely refuse and offer my work id instead.
We did have a woman at work who was harassed by a customer on social media when he found her full name - so bad in fact, he'd turned up outside demanding to speak to her :eek: