The BBC is said to have banned its staff from using terms like ‘sweetheart’ and introduced new sexual harassment training in the wake of several bad behaviour scandals.
Employees are reportedly being told to fill in screen skills passports ‘designed to create a better, more welcoming and safe place to work’ as part of the latest package of measures.
The guidance also warns against microaggressions – such as comments on people’s accents or remarking on curly hair.
A new reading list includes controversial books like White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, by Reni Eddo-Lodge.
One production worker revealed to The Sun it was now ‘hard to remember everyone’s pronouns’ claiming she had been told off for calling someone ‘hun’.
It comes as the BBC has been hit by a slew of bad behaviour scandals in recent months, with MasterChef host John Torode axed for allegedly using a racist term, which he denied.
His co-star Gregg Wallace was investigated over claims of swearing and inappropriate sexual language.
And the revelations followed Strictly Come Dancing’s Giovanni Pernice being stepped down last year after an investigation upheld allegations of bullying language.
A BBC worker claimed she was ‘hounded’ until she’d done her training and informed she would not be employed unless successful completion had taken place.
She said: ‘It’s like walking on eggshells, whether it’s about race, your sex or your preferred pronouns.
‘Increasingly, we have runners who are LGBTQ+ and it’s hard to remember everyone’s pronouns, so I just call them “hun”, but now worry that’s wrong, too.’
The employee said she had got ‘called up’ for calling someone ‘a babe’ and recalled the term was seen as ‘unprofessional’ despite her intending it as a compliment.
She said: ‘Since then I’ve felt I have to be really careful. I just keep quiet and say nothing. It feels like woke gone mad.’
The 60-minute Screen Skills training course for freelancers sees staff asked to complete a multiple choice quiz with modules including ‘tackling harassment and bullying at work’.
Another condemned behaviour is interrupting someone else at work- a trait among ‘indirect, often unintentional expressions of bias which come out in seemingly harmless comments but can have an immediate or cumulative effect’.
‘Silver fox’ and ‘baby-faced’ are also seen as ageist.
It is understood the screen skills training is not mandatory for staff and content of the pilot, for freelancers, is being reviewed.
The BBC declined to comment on the sexual harassment course to The Sun but said: ‘This Screen Skills training is not mandatory for BBC staff and any suggestion otherwise would be wrong.
‘The content of this pilot for freelancers is being reviewed by partners across the industry.’
The Beeb has been approached for further comment.
