'You can't contribute, you're only 20!' and other offensive remarks made in offices

“In many respects, women are people too” and “if she’s pregnant she doesn’t want a career” are just two of the comments that have come to light following a recent survey.

The report, conducted by soliciting firm Thomas Mansfield, offered UK employees the chance to submit some of the most disturbing things they had overheard in their workplaces. The research found that rude and insulting remarks are still very much commonplace in offices today.

Speaking to Executive Grapevine, Meredith Hurst, Partner at Thomas Mansfield, explained the implications of the survey: “Sadly, offence in the workplace is nothing new. We do live in more tolerant times but, when people are brought together, it is all too easy for a tribal mentality to take over, particularly in traditionally male-dominated working environments such as construction or financial markets.

“It may be overstating it to suggest that such behaviour is on the increase, or that it is going to have more of a marked effect on the British workplace than it already does, but what our research does show is that offence shows no sign of abating. This can take the form of; mild jokes focussing on a colleague’s characteristics, which, when repeated, become wearing on the individual; more extreme barrack room comments; and, at the most extreme, threats of violence.”