It used to be known as “equal opportunities” and at the moment “equality and diversity” is the popular phrase, but whatever it’s known as, the area that most concerns employers in the whole field of employment law is discrimination.
Holly Cudbill specialises in discrimination and comments “It is entirely understandable that employers are so worried about discrimination claims: they can be costly, difficult to defend, time-consuming and damaging to a company’s reputation.”
The first and most important aspect of discrimination for employers to memorise is the list of “protected characteristics”, in other words, the grounds for claiming discrimination. They are:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
The basic rule is that if any employee is treated unfairly or less favourably because they have one or more of the above protected characteristics, you will be at risk of a discrimination claim.
There are four main types of discrimination:
Please follow the above links to find out more.
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