Office gossiping - They did what in the stationery cupboard?!

Fact: Everyone gossips

Whether it's done verbally, via email or more recently via social media platforms like Facebook and twitter, it doesn't matter what form gossiping has. Gossiping in the workplace, especially when it is about other work colleagues, has all the negative downsides associated with the following words:

Tribunal
Harassment
Money

These are three words to make any employer jump to attention. Why? Because gossip usually becomes their problem after a fallout or incident. Read more about how inappropriate behaviour between two employees at a staff function became idle talk in the office and led to an employer landing claims of sex and pregnancy discrimination, harassment and constructive dismissal on his desk.

Does this look familiar?

Socialising and interaction in work is all part of fostering teamwork as well as building a culture of openness and transparency, but when rumours and malicious gossiping start to affect a workplace, it can become increasingly uncomfortable for everyone.

Here are our top 3 tips for businesses dealing with office gossip:

• Cut it out - Warn everyone that it won't be tolerated
• Make your staff aware of boundaries. You don't want all your staff to be robots - after all it's human nature to get things off your chest.
• Don't participate yourself!