Employment discrimination law. Protecting your business. Discrimination claims can damage your business’s reputation and have a significant financial impact. Our employment solicitors work alongside businesses to build robust anti-discrimination practices and help navigate any sensitive discrimination allegations while protecting your organisation’s values and interests. At Morr & Co, our employment lawyers work with businesses to: provide general advice and training to educate managers and employees on discrimination and help minimise allegations of discrimination assist with managing situations that could develop into claims for discrimination, for example dealing with flexible working requests or measures for reducing/limiting home or hybrid working arrangements assist in handling specific complaints of unlawful discrimination, whether as part of a grievance or through an employment tribunal claim The Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate because of a ‘protected characteristic’. The Act recognises 8 categories of protected characteristic, namely: Race Sex Disability Religion or belief Sexual orientation Pregnancy and maternity Gender re-assignment Marriage and Civil Partnership Age Types of discrimination There are various types of discrimination and other unlawful conduct set out in the Equality Act that apply to most (and in some cases all) of the protected characteristics: Direct discrimination Indirect discrimination Harassment Victimisation Instructing, causing, inducing and helping discrimination In cases where the protected characteristic is ‘Disability’ then claims for discrimination can also arise for: Failure on the part of the employer to make reasonable adjustments required to avoid putting the disabled person at a substantial disadvantage; and Discrimination arising from disability – put simply subjecting the employee to any detriment or unfairness by reason of the disability Direct discrimination The key points to note about direct discrimination in employment under The Equality Act are: An employee claiming direct discrimination should show that they have been treated less favourably than a real or hypothetical comparator whose circumstances (other than the existence of the protected characteristic) are not materially different to their own. The exception to this is pregnancy or maternity discrimination where formal comparators are not required The less favourable treatment must be because of a protected characteristic. If it was for other reason some than the protected characteristics it may be unfair, but it will not amount to unlawful direct discrimination The discrimination need not be because of the victim’s protected characteristic, except in marriage and civil partnership cases. Therefore, less favourable treatment because of an employee’s association with someone who has a protected characteristic is covered. For example, an employee without a disability could bring a direct disability discrimination claim where they have been treated less favourably because they have a disabled child An employee who is wrongly perceived to have a protected characteristic (other than marriage or civil partnership) will be protected against any less favourable treatment they receive for that reason. For example, an employee of Asian origin might have a direct religious discrimination claim where they have been treated less favourably because of the employer’s mistaken belief that they are Muslim Indirect discrimination Indirect discrimination is concerned with acts, decisions or policies which are not intended to treat anyone less favourably, but which, in practice, have the effect of disadvantaging a group of people with a particular protected characteristic. Where such an action actually disadvantages an individual with that characteristic, it will amount to indirect discrimination unless it can be objectively justified The classic example is an employer requiring an employee to work full-time. This requirement could disadvantage women as a group, since women tend to bear more childcare responsibilities than men and are therefore more likely to want (or need) to work part time. Unless the employer can objectively justify the need for a full-time worker to do the job, the requirement could be indirectly discriminatory against a woman with childcare responsibilities Harassment Harassment is defined under the Equality Act as occurring if ‘X’ engages in unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic which has the purpose or effect of either: Violating ‘Y’s’ dignity, or Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for ‘Y’ In deciding whether conduct shall be regarded as having the required effect, the following must be taken into account: Y’s’ perception The other circumstances of the case Whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect Victimisation The Equality Act’s victimisation provisions protect employees who do (or might do) protected acts such as bringing discrimination claims, complaining about harassment, or becoming involved in another employee’s discrimination complaint. Victimisation is usually alleged to have been committed by an employer that is already the subject of a discrimination complaint by a current or former employee. Prevention is better than cure, and as such we can help you to both minimise the risks of your receiving a valid claim for discrimination as well as mitigating the costs in time, money and reputation –including within your wider workforce – of dealing with a claim that does arise. Get in touch Contact Mel McCrum Partner, Head of Department Employment 01737 854500 Message Connect On this page Contact our Employment lawyers Get in touch
