Time gentlemen, please

Published on Monday 31 March 2008 21:17

ONE of the most famous scenes in the cult 1970s film The Wicker Man is the moment when a bewildered Sergeant Howie encounters the regulars at the local pub.

Some rowdy locals begin to serenade the barmaid, Willow, played by Britt Ekland, with a ditty featuring such choice lines as:

“Oh nothing can delight so,

As does the part that lies between,

Her left toe and her right toe.”

While Willow seems quite taken with the tribute, such sentiments are an occupational hazard for a large number of the 670,000 women working in the hospitality industry. There are few women who have worked behind a bar who couldn’t wearily recount some story or another of sexual harassment from a customer. For my part, I was just 16 and waitressing as a Saturday job, when a tipsy male customer to whom I was serving coffee held up a pair of plates against my breasts while declaring, “nice saucers”. Totally at a loss for how to respond my only retort was an embarrassed smile.

Afterwards, the general consensus was that such “cheery banter” came with the job. Friends of mine who have worked behind bars have all got similar tales of inappropriate jokes, innuendo and even bottom-pinching.

For some, it was enough to put them off working in bars for ever. Those who stayed in the industry learned to handle most situations – becoming, if not quite like Bet Lynch, then at least inured against all but the worst behaviour. But even experienced bar staff admit to finding sexual innuendo “wearing”, to say the least.

While women are protected by the law against sexual harassment from their colleagues, there has been no such protection from leering customers – until now. From 6 April, under the European Equal Treatment Directive, employers will be duty-bound to protect their staff from sexual harassment by members of the public they encounter in the workplace. And workers will be able to seek damages from employers who fail to take reasonable steps to protect them from “any unwanted conduct related to their sex which violates their dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”.

So will such moves protect women from unwanted comments and advances or will it simply suffocate what’s often claimed as “friendly banter”?

Women’s right campaigners believe the move is a very positive one. Jess McCabe, editor of UK feminist website The F-Word ( www.thefword.org.uk) says: “Everyone deserves to be able to go to work without being bombarded with unwanted sexual attention. This kind of behaviour is so common in bars and pubs that it barely raises eyebrows, but it would be seen as totally unacceptable in another context. People should remember that even though they go to a bar to relax and have fun, it is still somebody’s workplace.”

But not everyone agrees it’s necessary. Melissa Cole, editor of trade publication Bar Magazine, says: “Anything that can make bar staff feel more secure is a good thing, but having said that, I think that a good barmaid can handle these issues herself most of the time, and if not, a good licensee should be able to deal with it. If you use common sense, it shouldn’t have to become a legal issue.”

So how do the women pulling the pints feel about it? We ask women in four popular Edinburgh watering holes about their experiences and whether they welcome the new legislation.

‘It’s an employer’s job to protect staff’

&#149 Vivienne Lennox has been a barmaid at The Canny Man’s in Edinburgh for more than 20 years

IN ALL my years of experience, I’ve never put up with any sexual harassment from customers towards me or any other members of staff. It was more difficult to clamp down on 20 years ago, when that sort of behaviour wasn’t seen as quite so unacceptable. I remember that sexist comments, jokes, men rubbing your palm with their fingers when you gave them their change, that sort of thing, was quite normal. Today, with attitudes changing, happily you don’t have to put up with as much, and our male customers treat female staff with respect.

When it does happen however, whether it’s an inappropriate comment or just something that makes someone feel uncomfortable, I ask a customer to leave. If they refuse, I call the police. It’s an employer’s job to protect their staff in every possible way, and I fully support this legislation.

An employer must ensure that such behaviour is dealt with, and if they’re not willing to take that step to protect their staff, I think it’s great they can then be held accountable.

‘We have a zero-tolerance policy on inappropriate behaviour…’

Sara Uthede, 26, is the assistant day manager at Joseph Pearce’s bar in Edinburgh

I’VE worked at Joseph Pearce’s since it opened six months ago, and before that I worked for a year at Sofi’s, another Edinburgh bar owned by the same people. We operate a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour directed at customers or staff.

We have a sign on the bar asking our customers not to swear, and if we see men approaching female customers in a way we think is making them uncomfortable, we’ll ask them to leave. We take the same approach when it comes to the way a customer treats a member of staff. If a customer is making an employee feel even a little uncomfortable for any reason, we’ll ask them to leave. I can remember only one occasion when a customer used overt sexual language when he was speaking to me, and my boss simply asked him to leave immediately.

It’s good to see attempts to protect women in the workplace, but I do think that bar staff see innuendo and jokes as just a part of the job. I can’t imagine many women choosing to take their complaints very far, but I’m glad that employers will be obliged to protect their staff.

‘No-one should have to put up with it’

Jessica Pollock, 27 is the assistant manager at Villager in Edinburgh.

I’VE worked in loads of bars over the years, and some are worse than others in terms of hassles from customers. Villager has been the best because it doesn’t tolerate that sort of behaviour at all, but it can be hard when your boss isn’t that bothered about it.

It’s normally someone just saying something cheeky, but having someone pinch your bum when you’re collecting glasses isn’t uncommon. I remember one time I had both hands full with glasses and two men came up to me, one behind, one in front, and sort of squashed me with their bodies like a sandwich. On that occasion I asked the door staff to throw them out, which they did, but it was quite upsetting, and not something anyone should have to deal with.

Imagine how you feel when someone wolf-whistles on the street – then imagine that’s part of your job. It can be unpleasant, so it’s great to hear that bar staff will be backed by the law on it. Quite simply, no-one should have to put up with it.

‘It can be wearing to deal with regularly’

Mary Moriarty has been the landlady of the Port O’Leith pub in Edinburgh for 25 years and is the president of The Edinburgh District Ladies Licensed Trade Auxiliary Association

WHEN I worked behind the bar when I was a bit younger, I suppose I was more likely to put up with sexist remarks and jokes, but now that I’m older, I’ve learned to draw the line.

One of the things that’s made me uncomfortable in the past is overheard conversations between customers about me that aren’t particularly savoury.

I think that there is a feeling in this industry that it’s just a part of the job, but until you’ve experienced it, you really don’t know what it’s like, and it can be wearing to deal with on a regular basis.

I’ve had more overt problems, like the time a customer grabbed a member of staff’s breast.

She could handle the situation easily enough herself – she smacked him on the jaw – but the bottom line is that she shouldn’t have to put up with that sort of thing. No-one should, and that includes male staff, who I’ve seen being sexually harassed by male and female customers. Any employer who doesn’t recognise that should be held accountable.

If I have a problem with a customer, I’ll tend to tell them off, but try to keep the situation quite light-hearted.

They tend to back off more quickly if you don’t make too big a deal of it.