Seeking advice for a friend – UK based. For context my friend works in comms for a medium-sized science research company.
As the title says, last week HR “suggested” to my friend that she socialises more with her colleagues on her lunch break. HR said that not talking to people on her break will impact her job as she’s meant to be seen as someone who’s warm and friendly who people can chat to.
In the same meeting he also dismissed a number of sexism complaints from different women as “girls being over dramatic”.
What are the next steps my friend should be doing here?
I’ve suggested writing down the minutes from the meeting whilst she can remember it all in detail (to maybe send over to HR and confirm if it’s correct?)
Pretty sure a lot of this stuff is illegal (eg semi-mandated activities on an unpaid lunch break) but what else should she do?
Any help appreciated.