Work as a manger in a shop. A brown man walks in?

Question

assistant serves him. Later on she talks about him to another white assistant. She refers to him as a Paki. I as a manger over hear should I pull her up on it?

I am asian

Answer 1

double check the company policy ,my husband work has a section no offensive language or racism to be used in work place.
if your company has a policy booklet it should say if it's written or verbal or sacking keep with the guidelines or check whatever actions you do don't fall into unfair dismissal.
If the girl said this i'm sorry to say god knows what she is saying about you.

Answer 2

Now, wait a minute. What was the context of her comments to the other employee? Were they derogatory? If they were, then of course she should be dealt with administratively. However, perhaps she is simply uneducated and does not know the proper terminology.

"Paki" is not necessarily derogatory in nature if the man is, in fact, Pakistani. I have heard some pretty disgusting slurs for those of Arab or Middle Eastern descent; I won't repeat them here because they are rude, but I have some friends who are Pakistani and they often refer to themselves as "Paki."

All I am saying, is check into this a bit further before making assumptions. Racial issues are always a delicate topic and maybe she didn't mean it the way you took it. Do you have any Pakistani employees or friends that can help answer this one? I'd like to know how they feel about it, too.

Good luck!

Answer 3

What's a manger? I've never heard of that in a shop before. Is it anything like a minger?

OK, yes, so you overheard someone refering to a dark man as a "Paki", I think I would be concerned if they were talking about them in a bad light, like racial slurs, but if it was just a word then I wouldn't worry about it. If it offends you then maybe just ask them not to use such terms while in the shop.

Answer 4

If he was from Pakistan then he`s a Paki. I`m from Britain and I`m a Brit. Someone from Australia is an Aussie. What`s the problem? Too many politically correct people out there making issues out of nothing.

Answer 5

Hell yes! jus make her go through all the disciplinary procedures and if possible sack her....if she's making racist comment about a customer, can you imagine what she's saying about you? Yet, what she should remember, is without that customer's money and the many more like him, she would not have a job! People are sooooo ignorant!

Answer 6

Too right you should. Whether you are Asian should not even come into question - she needs to respect other people regardless of race, sexuality, whatever.

You are not just a manager, you are a role model. Set a good example to all of your other colleagues and put this woman right!

Answer 7

If they don't want to serve every customer that comes in and treat them with respect (and insulting people when they've gone certainly isn't respectful), then they should be offered the option of not serving customers at all.

Answer 8

i don't believe that this assistant is in anyway making a rasist comment but reffering to someone by race, whatever that may be, is never good in a customer service environment as it could be misconstrude and this should be explained to the member of staff overheard.

Answer 9

Council her, document the councilling session. Tell her that using that term may be construed as a racial slur. Tell her that your policy is that racial slurs are not only bad business but illegal. That what she does on her own time is her business, but at work, you do not want her to use racial or ethnic slurs.

Best of luck and head it off now.

Answer 10

Yes, because the assistants regardless of what colour they are, are using racist language, that is a sack-able offence.