Continue reading "Discrimination: Managing employees with dementia"
Keely Rushmore examines the key points to take away from a recent decision that a 73-year-old Asda employee with memory problems suffered age and disability discrimination Cases such as Hutchinson highlight the importance of treating age-related illnesses as what they are: illnesses. Any underperformance or illness should be dealt with under the performance management or …
Discrimination: Avoiding claims from pregnant workers and new mothers – lessons from recent case law
Beth Hale and Naomi Latham explore six cases which highlight the potential pitfalls for employers when managing workers who are pregnant or who have returned from maternity leave Efforts made to reach a compromise position and to consider individual circumstances will help employers demonstrate that they have acted proportionately and will help to justify the …
Discrimination: Should the menopause be a specific protected characteristic?
Jenny Arrowsmith and Joanne Moseley examine the business case for supporting employees going through the menopause and discuss whether greater legal protection is required for those experiencing symptoms The menopause is not specifically protected under the Equality Act 2010 and most complaints are characterised as a form of disability, sex or occasionally age discrimination. The …
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Discrimination: EHRC launches guidance on preventing workplace harassment
Gillian MacLellan, Molly Grace and Val Dougan consider how far employers should go to follow new recommendations on dealing with sexual harassment and harassment ‘For some employers, the guidance may simply seem a step too far and they will not be persuaded to implement it until it has a statutory basis.’ In January, the Equality …
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Discrimination: Quantifying injury to feelings awards: lessons from case law
Christopher Hitchins and Emma Phillpot consider what recent awards can tell us about the level of compensation an employer will be liable to pay for injured feelings in discrimination cases ‘Despite the Vento guidelines, it remains difficult to estimate what level of award could be made in any given situation.’ A victim of discrimination based …
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Discrimination: Is a ban on classism at work on the cards?
Mark Lafferty examines the feasibility of implementing the Labour Party’s pledge to introduce a new law to tackle class inequality ‘The TUC report suggests that “class” could be added as a new tenth protected characteristic to prohibit direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment on this ground.’The Labour Party manifesto includes a pledge to create …
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Discrimination: Positive action – avoid crossing the (thin blue) line
Following a tribunal’s decision that Cheshire Police discriminated against a straight, white, male job applicant, Glenn Hayes explores how to stay on the right side of equality law when tackling workplace under-representation ‘Employers must be able to justify any positive action they take and regularly evaluate their efforts to see if they are successful. The …
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Discrimination: Religious or philosophical belief – exploring the boundaries of legal protection
Joanna Chatterton and Ed Livingstone examine the case law and new Acas guidance on religion and belief discrimination ‘Employers should be wary of relying too heavily on the scenarios set out in Acas’s new guidance, as the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Bakkali shows.’ In May 2018, Acas published new guidance on religion and belief …
Discrimination: Adopting a position
Potential beneficiaries excluded from a will or trust may have a claim under human rights. Scott Taylor outlines recent case law ‘For the claimants to succeed they had to show not only that they were victims of an infringement of the European Convention of Human Rights but also that the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) …
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Discrimination: Bake’s off: lessons from the Bert and Ernie cake case
A controversial judgment has reignited debate about the conflict between protection from discrimination and the values of organisations and their workers. Phil Allen explains ‘While some of the cases on the breadth of the meaning of belief in the context of religious discrimination might raise some interesting arguments, there is a requirement for such beliefs …
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