- BP demands staff reveal intimate relationships with colleagues or face dismissal
- Employees have three months to disclose any issues.
- Rules follow Bernard Looney’s firing for failing to disclose past relationships
BP is at risk of lawsuits from its employees after serious concerns were raised about its crackdown on industrial relations.
The oil giant revealed last week that it required all staff to disclose any intimate relationships with colleagues, including those dating back to 2021, or face dismissal.
BP’s 90,000 employees, of whom 4,500 are senior managers, have been given three months to disclose any issues.
Previously, they were only required to disclose their 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 firing of Chief Bernard Looney in December for serious misconduct for failing to fully disclose his past relationships to the board.
Crackdown: Top city lawyers have said retroactively demanding information about relationships stinks for the Stasi
The scandal rocked the 115-year-old company, raising questions not only about Looney’s employment ties but also about the company’s culture.
The Irish businessman was stripped of £32m in salary and bonuses following his sacking.
Looney was known for defending female staff, but there were accusations that he had promoted women with whom he had previously had secret relationships. The policy has been received with great uproar. Staff are particularly upset by the retrospective demand for details of relationships from three years ago.
It has “generated an enormous amount of ill will,” a city source said.
Employees feel the controversy surrounding Looney left “problems” in its wake, the source added. The City’s top lawyers told The Mail on Sunday that retrospectively demanding information about relationships that reek of the Stasi could be illegal and expose the firm to lawsuits.
Lawyers said applying new rules to past actions was effectively a breach of an employee’s contract. There are also concerns about invasion of privacy.
Hina Belitz, partner at Excello Law, said: ‘I understand the prospective change in policy, but looking for information retrospectively raises many problems. That seems unreasonable.
“It goes back in history and exposes the company to unlimited claims and compensation.”
One possible explanation for the change, according to City speculation, is that BP wants to know how and why some managers have been promoted in the last three years.
Belitz added: “It’s clear they want to see how many employees were promoted through a conflict of interest.”
BP supports the policy changes, adding that a review of labor relations rules was scheduled for this year. It was last updated in 2018. The new policy says: ‘Previously, employees were required to disclose and record such relationships if they felt there might be a conflict of interest. They are now required to disclose their 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, failure to comply with the policy could result in disciplinary action.”
The firm confirmed that this could include dismissal.
Many corporations require employees to disclose all employment relationships. Last year, ITV drew up strict rules following the resignation of Phillip Schofield over a work matter. But lawyers said it was unusual for multinational corporations to request so much information from the past. Joseph Lappin of Stewarts Law added: ‘I have never seen a retrospective policy like this implemented on this scale before. If BP is trying to rebuild trust between employers and their workers, this is not the way to do it. A soft policy would have been a much better option.”
The company has said the updated rules do not affect new CEO Murray Auchincloss’s relationship with fellow BP high-flyer Julia Emanuele, chief operating officer of the lucrative crude oil trading division.
Auchincloss notified the board of directors about 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-standing 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 as CEO and now everyone is paying for it.”
