Discrimination

We advise Employers on the impact of the discrimination legislation and, in particular, the things which they and their staff should (or should not) be doing.

We also review and update Policies and Procedures and advise on how to minimise the risk of discrimination claims.

Employers need to understand the full impact of the discrimination legislation as compensation in discrimination cases is potentially unlimited and employers will usually be held automatically liable for the discriminatory acts of their managers/employees whether or not the employer was aware of what was going on or even realised that it amounted to discrimination.

Legislation currently prohibits unlawful discrimination on the grounds of:-

Age

Sex (including Equal Pay)

Race

Disability

Sexual Orientation

Religion/Belief

Special protection is also given to people:-

– who are Whistle-blowers
– working under Fixed-Term contracts
– working Part-Time
– undergoing or who have undergone Gender Reassignment

Due to changes in the law, Employment Tribunals are able to infer discrimination from particular situations where there is insufficient clear evidence to disprove allegations of discrimination.

Discrimination can arise in a number of ways and can be both “direct” and “indirect”. For example:-

Direct

– Failure to recruit, promote or trai

– Less favourable Terms and Conditions

– Physical or verbal harassment

– Inappropriate comments or behaviour

Indirect

– Policies, criteria or practices (which have a discriminatory effect)

“Indirect Discrimination” can occur as a result of policies, criteria or practices which discriminate against a particular section of the workforce who are unable to comply with them (most commonly policies requiring full-time or regular working patterns) where the discriminatory effect cannot be justified.