U.S.-based Mikkeller employees elected two work environment representatives (WE reps) last week as part of the action plan that the Danish craft beer maker introduced last year following allegations from current and former employees the company and its founder Mikkel Borg Bjergsø fostered a hostile work environment.
In San Diego, where Mikkeller operates a taproom in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood and a production brewery, employees elected taproom worker Alexis McPherson and brewery staffer Nikki Beall to one-year terms as WE reps, Mikkeller USA VP/general manager Matthew Lisowski told Brewbound. Employees nominated co-workers for the roles, who had to accept their nominations to be added to a ballot.
“All employees have the right to volunteer and to vote, apart from the employer, company managers and supervisors who can’t volunteer or vote,” Mikkeller wrote in its action plan.
McPherson and Beall’s responsibilities will include:
- “Work with the safety committee to ensure workplace safety is practiced on all areas of the organization;
- Advise management of any additional safety or health concerns in the organization;
- Be available for confidential sparring with employees;
- Conduct yearly work environment survey in the U.S.;
- Act as a liaison between work environment items with management and the employees;
- Aid in discussions, no less than quarterly, regarding workplace environment;
- Review, advise, and aid in development of company wide policies that are made quarterly as well as annual handbook policy revisions.”
The WE reps will be given time to attend meetings and complete tasks and will be compensated, Lisowski added.
Other WE reps have been elected at Mikkeller’s headquarters. Similar nominations and elections will take place at Mikkeller’s dozens of locations in Europe and Asia and its San Francisco taproom.
Mikkeller’s action plan also includes a reconciliation program that aims to “ensure all cases can be acknowledged, documented, and reconciled in a manner that meets the expectations of those harmed,” wrote facilitator Kate Bailey, founder of business consulting firm Hand & Heart, which is facilitating the reconciliation process. This could involve monetary payments to affected parties.
“The program seeks to provide the fairest and most reasonable outcome possible to each individual case,” Bailey told Brewbound. “Mikkeller have committed to this process, and neither myself or the company are responsible for assigning potential monetary amounts – that is done by independent legal counsel. Furthermore, direct financial compensation may be a part of [a] package of reconciliation which could feature other items. This is to ensure we can be flexible to the needs of those affected and provide the solutions that works for them.”
Bailey produced “Super Cool Toxic Workplace,” a podcast about working conditions at Mikkeller’s locations in Europe and the U.S. Following the publication of the podcast, Mikkeller CEO Kenneth Madsen, who supplanted Bjergsø in October 2020, and Hand & Heart met for “a series of ongoing discussions and negotiations” that resulted in the company agreeing to a program designed by the firm.
“After publication, there was a very clear and mutual desire to fix the issue,” Bailey said. “While the program is an entirely new concept, I have worked on similar confidential cases — so, when there was a genuine desire from Mikkeller to explore concepts to fix the issue, I began outlining the program concept from there.”
Hand & Heart has been granted “legally protected independence” as it administers the reconciliation program, which launched January 13. Employees who have “experienced a harmful working environment while working for the company” can register their cases through a portal on Hand & Heart’s website that asks for details of their tenure with the company.
Claimants’ ability to achieve reconciliation with Mikkeller is not contingent upon their signing a non-disclosure agreement with the company, according to the Hand & Heart’s FAQ page. However, U.S. residents “may have to sign a legal release depending on the individual factors” of their case (emphasis added by Hand & Heart).
There is no set deadline for claims to be received, nor is there a cap on the monetary amount that may be distributed.