Fewer employers recognise that a defence is available to them if they took all reasonable steps to prevent their employees from either committing a particular discriminatory act or committing such acts in general.
What amounts to "all reasonable steps”? This will obviously depend on the circumstances of the case but, at minimum, necessary steps are likely to include:
- Implementing an equality policy
- Ensuring staff are aware of the policy
- Reviewing the policy on an ongoing basis
- Providing equal opportunities training
- Dealing effectively with complaints from staff
So, merely having an equal opportunities policy tucked away in your Staff Handbook is not likely to be sufficient. All businesses should ensure that their managers receive diversity training so that they are aware of the issues and what to do if things go wrong.
On 1 October 2010, most discrimination legislation was abolished and replaced by the single Equality Act 2010. This Act outlaws discrimination where the individual has a certain "protected characteristic”, as follows:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
The different ways in which discrimination can arise are:
- Direct discrimination
- Indirect discrimination
- Harassment
- Victimisation
If an employee alleges disability discrimination, they can rely as well on the duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate that person's disability.
The purpose of the single Equality Act was to harmonise the law relating to discrimination. Whilst this has largely worked, it certainly has not simplified the law. It is a complex web and employers need expert advice on such matters.
Many employment lawyers focus on just the legal aspects of discrimination. Whilst this is undoubtedly important, the lawyers at Darbys deliver advice in a way that takes into account commercial reality, recognising that there is more at play than just the law - discrimination claims can have a huge adverse effect on a workplace in terms of morale, loss of productivity etc.
All employers should have systems in place so that all staff know exactly where they stand on such issues (thereby reducing the chances of claims in the first place) and, if issues do arise, ensuring that they can be dealt with promptly and effectively without the need for litigation.
As we say, we are always there for businesses who are in our BLUE LAW scheme, so we invite you to join BLUE LAW now. Once you have joined, we try to answer any legal enquiries that you have, free of charge. If legal work is needed, we give you a price, and you are then free to "shop around". If you wish to speak to us now, please click on "Please Contact Me Now” or call us on 0800 084 3256. We look forward to always being there for you.
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We set your contracts, policies and procedures up so that they are fully compliant and so that they give your business maximum protection.
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