Discrimination

It is an unfortunate reality that employees and other workers are discriminated against on account of various characteristics – age, sex and race being three of the most common.

Over the years the legislators have responded to this by introducing a considerable amount of anti-discrimination legislation.The Equality Act 2010, much of which came into force on 1 October 2010, brought together and re-stated the previous discrimination legislation in relation to each of the ‘protected characteristics’ and also introduced a number of changes to the pre-existing law. 

 

What types of discrimination are protected under the law?

The Equality Act 2010 is concerned with discrimination and harassment in respect of the following "protected characteristics", which are as follows:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment.
• Marriage and civil partnership.
• Pregnancy and maternity.
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

There are various types of discrimination and other unlawful conduct set out in the Equality Act 2010 that apply to most (and in some cases all) of the protected characteristics:

• Direct discrimination
• Indirect discrimination
• Harassment
• Victimisation
• Instructing, causing, inducing and aiding discrimination

Thee are important differences between ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ discrimination. Direct discrimination occurs when an employer discriminates against someone directly because of a protected characteristic. An easy example would be dismissing a woman because she is pregnant.

Indirect Discrimination is more subtle and involves a practice of an employer that may seem on the face of it not discriminatory but disadvantages certain employees more than others. An example here would be requiring all employees to work full time. This could disadvantage in particular woman with young or school age children and could therefore be discriminatory.

There are duties on employers to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled employees to assist them in their work.

The default retirement age of 65 years was abolished a few months ago and it is now not possible to be ‘retired’ without agreement or good reason.

The law in this area is complicated and there are strict time limits (3 months) for bringing a claim against an employer against who a claim of discrimination is made.

The Equality Act also protects job applicants and former employees and the definition of ‘employee’ under the Equality Act is wide and can include ‘workers’ and ‘agency workers’.

Discrimination can be lawful in limited circumstances such as where there is an occupational requirement or where an employer is taking ‘positive action’ or where the employer has a statutory requirement.

If you think you may have been discriminated against by your employer (past, current or future) then we can help you analyse where the discrimination has occurred and what your options are to deal with it.

Compensation at the Employment Tribunal for successful claims in relation to discrimination is unlimited.