Staff threaten authorized motion over crackdown on office affairs at BP

BP risks being slapped with lawsuits from employees after serious concerns were raised about its crackdown on relationships at work.

The oil giant last week revealed it has demanded all staff disclose any intimate relationships with colleagues – including those dating back to 2021 – or face being sacked.

BP’s 90,000 employees, of which 4,500 are senior managers, have been given three months to reveal any affairs.

Previously, they were only obliged to disclose relationships with colleagues if there was a potential conflict of interest, for example if one partner was the manager of the other.

The rules follow the sacking of boss Bernard Looney in December for serious misconduct over his failure fully to disclose his past relationships to the board.

Crackdown: Top City lawyers have said that retrospectively demanding information on relationships reek of the Stasi

The scandal rocked the 115-year-old company, raising questions not only about Looney’s workplace liaisons but also the company’s culture.

The Irish businessman was stripped of £32 million in pay and bonuses after his dismissal.

Looney was renowned for championing female staff but there were allegations he had promoted women with whom he had previous secret relationships. The policy has been met with uproar. Staff are particularly upset by the retrospective demand for details of relationships as long as three years ago.

It has ‘generated an awful lot of ill will’, one City source said.

Employees feel the controversy around Looney had ‘left problems’ in its wake, the source added. Top City lawyers have told The Mail on Sunday that retrospectively demanding information on relationships reek of the Stasi, could be illegal and open the firm up to lawsuits.

Solicitors said applying new rules to past actions was effectively a breach of an employee contract. There are also worries about invasion of privacy.

Hina Belitz, partner at Excello Law, said: ‘I understand the forward-looking change to the policy, but to retrospectively seek information raises a lot of issues. That seems unreasonable.

‘It reaches back in history and exposes the company to claims and unlimited compensation.’

One possible explanation for the change, according to City speculation, is that BP wants to know how and why some managers had been promoted over the past three years.

Belitz added: ‘Clearly they want to see how many employees were promoted via a conflict of interest.’

BP is standing by the policy changes, adding that a review of workplace relationship rules was scheduled for this year. It was last updated in 2018. The new policy says: ‘Employees were previously required to disclose and record such relationships if they felt there could be a conflict of interest. Now they are required to disclose intimate relationships at work, whether or not they feel they represent a conflict of interest.

‘As a policy that forms part of BP’s code of conduct, non-compliance with the policy could result in disciplinary action.’

The firm confirmed this could include dismissal.

Many corporations require employees to disclose all workplace relationships. Last year ITV drew up strict rules in the wake of Phillip Schofield’s resignation over a workplace affair. But lawyers said it was rare for multinational corporations to ask for so much past information. Joseph Lappin at Stewarts Law added: ‘I’ve never seen a retrospective policy like this implemented before on this scale. If BP is trying to rebuild employer-to-workforce confidence 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 do not affect new chief executive Murray Auchincloss’ relationship with fellow BP high-flyer Julia Emanuele, chief operating officer of the lucrative crude trading division.

Auchincloss notified the board of the relationship in July 2020, when he was hired as finance chief. When he took over last September, the board confirmed Auchincloss was in a ‘long-standing relationship and his partner also works in BP’.

A fund manager at BP investor Jupiter Asset Management said: ‘Unfortunately this is Looney’s legacy. He set the culture as chief executive and now everybody is paying for it.’