Equal Opportunities

What do we mean by “Equal Opportunities”?

• Treating all employees the same regardless of:
  • Race, including colour, nationality, ethnic origin
  • Religion, including religious or similar philosophical belief
  • Sex
  • Sexual orientation
  • Gender reassignment
  • Marital status
  • Disability
  • Age
• If you do not treat all employees the same you could discriminate against one employee or a group of employees.    

How do I know the actions of my business are discriminatory?

• Discrimination can be direct or indirect and includes victimisation and harassment.  You can discriminate against an employee or a group of employees based on the grounds of discrimination set out above.
• Direct discrimination includes comments, remarks or actions made or taken directly because of one of the factors set out above.
• Indirect discrimination includes rules or practices which apply to everyone but by their very existence discriminate against a particular group.
• Victimisation includes comments, remarks or actions made because an employee  has made a complaint or gave evidence based on one of the grounds of discrimination.
• Harassment

What sort of conduct can be discriminatory?

• Circulating emails with innuendos or dirty jokes
• Displaying lewd posters
• Making personal/intrusive comments about physique or clothing
• “Eyeing someone up” or leering
• Not promoting someone because of their sex; e.g. you think a women may start a family soon
• Not selecting someone for employment or promotion because of their sexual orientation
• Unjustifiably refusing an employee time off for a religious festival

Common Misconceptions

WRONG	a man cannot be the victim of sexual harassment
RIGHT	Men and women can be victims of sexual harassment
WRONG	“I didn’t mean it – it was only a bit of fun”
RIGHT	Irrelevant – if the victim found the conduct unwanted and offensive = discrimination
WRONG	“I only said it/did it once”
RIGHT	IRRELEVANT – one-off acts can constitute harassment/discrimination
WRONG	“He didn’t say he was offended by it”
RIGHT	Conduct must be unwelcome but where is so obviously offensive an employee does not have to make it clear at the time that they object

What should I do?

• Ensure you have an Equal Opportunities policy in place.
• Update the policy on a regular basis.
• Ensure employees understand the policy and know what behaviour is and is not acceptable in the workplace.
• Act quickly if a complaint is raised.
• Tackle the problem head-on and don’t just think it will blow over or die out.

Remember:

The actions of one of your employees could result in a Discrimination claim being brought against your business.  Both your company and the individual concerned could be held liable.  It is important to ensure that you not only have Equal Opportunities policies, but that your employees are aware of them, understand how you require them to act, and are adequately trained to know what behaviour is and is not acceptable in the workplace. 

For further information and advice, please contact lead Partner, Carol Shaw.

Carol Shaw
Partner

John Spratt
Partner

Hitendra Patel
Partner

Debra Wetters
Solicitor