Workplace discrimination law relates to discrimination arising from workplace issues, including:
- dismissal
- employment terms and conditions
- pay and benefits
- promotion and transfer opportunities
- training
- recruitment
- redundancy
Businesses should be aware of equal opportunity and anti-discrimination legislation. In practice, honest and fair employers who adhere to the spirit and intent of the regulations have little to fear.
Workplace discrimination law relates to discrimination arising from workplace issues, including:
Workplace discrimination laws protect job applicants, current and former employees and non-employee workers or consultants. There are certain characteristics that are covered by discrimination regulations (known as 'protected characteristics'). The protected characteristics are:
In Scotland, specific duties apply in circumstances where a public authority awards a contract or a framework agreement, provided that it is covered by the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. This is the case where a public authority:
The prohibited behaviours are:
The employer and implicated individuals can be sued and claims are uncapped. A carefully thought out Equal opportunities policy can help protect you in the event of claims.
Employers can be liable for the actions of an employee where there is a case of harassment and/or discrimination in the course of employment.
However, defence is available to employers, if they can show that they took all ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent such behaviour.
Examples of an employer taking reasonable steps include: