Channel 4 has discussed the idea of having a designated senior person to deal with bullying issues before they go to a union, following allegations about Gogglebox.
Last month it emerged that multiple staff who had worked on the show alleged that Manchester-based production company Studio Lambert tolerated excessive working hours, with claims of staff being shouted at and expected to go without breaks.
Channel 4 and Studio Lambert had been made aware of a number of claims about the treatment of off-screen staff. Broadcast union Bectu said it had received a number of complaints about working conditions at Studio Lambert and had engaged with the production company, which had refused a sit-down meeting.
Yesterday, Bectu head Philippa Childs and C4 director of commissioning operations Emma Hardy held a virtual call and discussed appointing an individual to take responsibility for attempting to resolve bullying issues before they are escalate to a union or other body, according to Broadcast.
A Studio Lambert spokeswoman said: “We were in communication with Bectu last year and reassured them that we take the welfare of our employees extremely seriously across all our productions and do not tolerate bullying or misconduct.
“We requested they ask individuals to set out any complaints in writing as due to confidentiality and data protection laws, it is not appropriate to discuss any issues relating to individuals whether anonymised or not with Bectu.
“We have a number of processes in place for managing concerns. We strive to improve working practices at all times and are confident that we have appropriate standards across all the shows we produce.”
