Discrimination legislation can be a particularly difficult area of law for employers to navigate without assistance.
The areas of unlawful discrimination in employment have grown rapidly. It is at present unlawful to discriminate against your employees on the grounds of:
- Sex
- Pregnancy/Taking Maternity Leave/Pay or Parental Leave/Pay
- Marital/Civil Partnership Status
- Gender Reassignment
- Race
- Disability
- Sexual Orientation
- Religion & Belief
- Age
Whilst areas of direct discrimination are fairly easy to spot, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation can arise in the most unlikely of places. Discrimination can occur in all aspects of an employment relationship, from job advertisements and the selection of candidates to interview, through to choosing individuals for promotion; also dealing with disciplinary and grievance procedures along with dismissing and retiring staff.
Ensure that you deal with any such issues properly and fairly. For example, if you have a disabled employee, you must consider making reasonable adjustments to working practices and/or premises to allow that employee to work for you. On the other hand when you come to retiring an employee from service make sure you know the correct procedure to follow so as not to discriminate on the basis of age. With this in mind be aware that Employment Tribunals have the power to award unlimited sums in compensation for discrimination where employers have not complied with their statutory obligations.
The employment law team at stevensdrake can advise you on all aspects of discrimination law to ensure you are confident dealing with the various issues. We also offer in house training on discrimination legislation and can draft any equal opportunity policies that you may need.
