BREWDOG AFFECTED WORKERS
– FAQ
Hand & Heart (H&H) is providing a platform to affected Brewdog workers to independently register their experiences with the company, to assist Punks with Purpose (PwP) in their core mission of tackling Brewdog’s cultural issues through positive action, and advocating for their mistreated and affected employees across the globe.
Please read the PwP Statement HERE.
Before being able to access the Registration Platform, we kindly ask you to read our statement regarding the purpose of this platform, and the subsequent FAQ’s.
Please read our statement in response to reporting about the hiring of private investigators to investigate those coming forward.
Here’s why Hand & Heart wanted to assist affected workers and PwP with this platform:
We want to…
help verify the number of genuine cases
To be able to assess the landscape of complaints, and ascertain key data such as how many cases there are and what kind of complaints there are. In the public arena, PwP and their extended community have been accused of embellishing or fabricating the magnitude of the issue/s (historically and otherwise) and of having a personal, malicious agenda.
By providing a safe, independent platform we hope those who are fearful of coming forward and facing retribution will be able to register their experience and in turn, we can indicate the magnitude and nature of these issues back to the broader public arena.
We want to….
ensure safety for all involved and remove the need for stories to be shared on social media
Sharing stories on social media has been an undeniably powerful mechanism of the worker’s rights movement within Craft Beer.
However, it requires storytellers to potentially compromise their safety and puts a burden on those with platforms sharing the stories, to consider things legally in a way they are not likely resourced to be able to do. Further, social media, a final means of calling attention to the issue, is weaponised by companies to detract from the substantive nature of complaints and to dismiss claims and hide behind “cancel culture” narratives.
By formalising this platform, we are able to offer a safe alternative for stories – and the broader Social Media community can focus on the other important messaging and signal boosting the movement so desperately required of them.
We want to…
solidify unity, empower organization and empower group decisions/agendas
Beyond the isolating feelings of holding trauma and being told, through various means, your story does not deserve to be heard by those who caused it – the affected workers deserve a secure platform to organise and make individual decisions around a “group” agenda. Once we can assess and analyse the submission data, we will be able to organise the group for legal considerations in many different ways, for example, geographically. It is our hope, that if the current response and rhetoric continue from the company, we would be able to then point people in the direction of unions, lawyers, and other helpful resources depending on the circumstances. Of course with explicit individual consents to do so.
Read more about Punks with Purpose.
Use this timeline to get up to speed.
FAQs
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Hand & Heart is a multi-faceted workplace and business consultancy, educator & training provider, media publisher, and satellite HR agency. H&H is also the creator and owner of Hospo Hotline, the world’s first-and-only full-service food business consultancy.
Our founder Kate Bailey is a member of the Association of Workplace Investigators, a registered Business Consultant with the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (BAFA) Consultant ID: #185675). We work under the guidelines of the provision of investigative services (BSI 102000:2018).
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Conventional is not innovative, and nothing conventional that has been tried has yielded the deserved outcomes these affected people deserve. But, yes, it is 100% legal and we have our legal team on stand-by to field concerns.
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No, we will not be doing anything like that with the platform as it stands.
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Nope. Zero-point-zero cents. It’s the right thing to do, and we have the resources and expertise to do it.
H&H has generally operated as a for-profit company providing workplace consulting, investigation services, business consulting and other services until unrelated to this platform. The platform is not linked to those for-profit services that we provide to businesses who are seeking our assistance to help them build better business. The Affected Worker’s registration is a new concept in which we use the resources of the consultancy to assist workers and organising groups in their positive actions seeking justice, respect and safe working environments for workers, with zero connection to our for profit activities as a company. Once again, this platform is the right thing to do in, and we have the reources and expertise to stand with affected workers of Brewdog, and Punks with Purpose as the driving force of positive action in advocating for these workers. -
Those registering will be sent a follow-up email with a link to helpful resources. For those that indicate and consent on their registration that they need immediate support, we will reach out to ensure your needs are met. We will summarise data to Punks with Purpose, who may also choose to communicate this to the public through their platforms. The registration will allow us, via email, to provide private updates to you as to the developments around this case and/or responses from the company. This will facilitate the right for individuals to contribute to democratic decision-making about how the group would like to proceed.
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No, H&H will cover all costs. You should not and will not be financially burdened.
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Any person who has been employed with Brewdog or their subsidiary companies or affiliates, currently or historically.
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No. But if you’d prefer to go public with media, email admin@handandheart.eu and we will provide further advice.
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No. We are independently managing the registration platform. We require your express written consent to do anything related to your submission.
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Only the H&H team. Your data will not be shared with anyone without your express written permission, which would and will require direct engagement from a member of the H&H team. H&H is GDPR compliant.
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OK. Well, if they are giving good advice they are not being listened to.
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We know. The information page about this report clearly states it was overseen by the board. As member/s of the board have been accused of misconduct this report can be immediately classified as biased, and inappropriate as it relates to the historical (and current) cases the community driving this platform, and affected persons themselves, advocate for.
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We are GDPR compliant, and your data is securely stored. The only people who have access to this data are employees and/or contractors of Hand & Heart, and are subject to strict and meticulous confidentiality agreements that are related explicitly to this project. Additionally, data is serious! We also need to be granted certain rights to be sure information provided can be verified with a registrant if we suspect a fraudulent entry - as we have been advised we may receive them.
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This is why we are very, very explicit in the submission form about the information we collect, so, that you do not. Asking for certain details in this explicit way allows you to safely provide a substantial entry without breaching any legal agreements. Once again, we will also never reveal your identity to the company, or anyone outside of the H&H team.
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As a start, we will analyse the data and be able to provide summary, broad and anonymous data insights that indicate primarily the amount of experiences, and what those experiences were, and what was done abuot them. From there we will assess the companies response, and work with our legal team/s to formulate subsequent options for the registrants to consider.
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Follow Punks With Purpose, follow us on Instagram, follow Kate on Twitter, follow Fanny Wandel and RatMagnet on Instagram.
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Please, encourage them to register an experience.
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Accountability often does, for those who want to avoid it. It is not a threat. It is a carefully considered, deeply pragmatic and secure proactive step forward for those affected and one that ultimately allows the company to continue to make their own choices about how to proceed.
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Indeed. Progress has demanded it.
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Please see the submission box at the end of the page, and fire away.
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You can with-hold your name and details, but we will require a way to be able to verify the ligitmacy of your employement for the case to be included in the summary data. This work must retain it's integrity.
If for example, your submit a claim where you give neither contact details or data consents - we can not include your information in the data we collate - further, we will not have a way to keep you updated.
Submissions that fall into this category, will be logged on a protocol.
If you change your mind, you can reference your story, and we can proceed to verify.
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O.K. It's not our first rodeo dealing with community action online.
It could be worthwhile to reflect on why you want to do that,
instead of supporting a method for us to know once and for all.
But, do what you need to.
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If you have concerns - simply email admin@handandheart.eu and we will
get back to you ASAP.
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Thank you for your interest!
If you want to be connected and a part of a known network as we progress, please email admin@handandheart.eu and we can connect.