The Charity Commission is assessing a complaint about a “toxic” and “hostile” workplace culture at international development charity World Vision UK, which has undergone a restructure this year.
In a complaint submitted to the commission and seen by Civil Society, a group of people claiming to be current and former staff claims that reports raised internally of racism, sexism and homophobia at the charity have been “ignored, silenced or inadequately handled” by senior leadership.
The commission confirmed that World Vision has filed a serious incident report following the allegations first being reported by Third Sector, which “interviewed 11 current and former staff” at the charity, on Monday.
However, World Vision has said that all the allegations it has been made aware of are false and that it believes the complaint has come from a “small number” of former employees.
The charity recently went through its second restructure in less than a year, which put about 90 of its around 200 staff members at risk of redundancy, with 60 roles expected to be cut by the end of last month.
Complaint allegations
The complaint urges the commission to investigate World Vision’s governance and leadership, which it says is “openly hostile to challenge, even when it comes through protected, legitimate channels”.
It alleges that at least eight senior staff members left the charity over the last few months after either being forced to step down or feeling uncomfortable under the current leadership.
The complaint alleges that non-disclosure agreements were “routinely used to silence staff leaving after negative experiences”.
It claims that the charity’s HR department confused two Black female employees, which resulted in a line report being wrongly assigned and accessed.
Other instances alleged in the complaint include mispronunciation of staff of colour’s names, their accents or languages being imitated by colleagues and Black women being “criticised, questioned and belittled in front of peers”.
The complaint alleges that the charity’s equity, diversity and inclusion group were told that “anti-LGBT staff members need to be allowed to have space too”.
In a staff Teams chat after a Pride event, a comment seen by Civil Society said that World Vision is “moving in the wrong direction away from the Lord” and that “it’s sad to see so many people being misled by the LGB…+ rainbow agenda”.
The complaint alleges that HR removed the comment but took no further action.
It also alleges that female employees reported instances of being patronised and silenced in meetings but felt “sidelined and unsupported” when raising concerns.
Charity contacts regulator
A spokesperson for World Vision UK said in a statement: “World Vision UK has contacted the Charity Commission and whilst any member of the public can make a complaint to them, there is no investigation against the charity. If the commission contacts us in relation to any complaint, we will of course cooperate fully.
“World Vision UK operates by the highest standards set by the Charity Commission. Our processes are devoted to meeting those high standards across all of our operations.
“The allegations we have been made aware of by Third Sector are false and are thought to be sourced from a small number of employees who have left the organisation.
“World Vision UK is a humanitarian organisation, with talented staff who are hugely dedicated to improving the lives of the most vulnerable children in the world. Our staff are extremely important to us. We provide various mechanisms for dealing with any staff complaints and if these are upheld, we act immediately to put things right and take action.
“The international development sector has faced a number of challenges which has led to the necessity to restructure in a way that leaves us in the best shape to face the future.
“We recognise such challenges, which have involved job losses through redundancy, are painful for us all as many valued employees have had to leave World Vision UK.
“World Vision UK remains committed and motivated by our goal to maintain and increase our outreach to help the millions of children across the world facing hunger, poverty, threats to safety, and in need of urgent help in emergencies.”
The commission said it is in the initial stages of assessing the concerns raised, with no findings made at this point.
A spokesperson for the regulator said: “We are currently assessing concerns about World Vision UK to determine what, if any, role there is for the commission as regulator.”
