I am Being Unfairly Discriminated Against at Work. What are my Rights?

As experts in employment law, discrimination in the workplace is a difficult problem for any employee to experience. There are many reasons why someone may be discriminated against including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity leave, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Under the Equality Act 2010, these are all called ‘protected characteristics’ and discrimination based on any of these is usually against the law.

How Can I be Discriminated Against?

There are several different forms of discrimination, including the following:

• Direct discrimination - treating someone with a protected characteristic less favourably than others.
• Indirect discrimination - putting rules or arrangements in place that apply to everyone, but that put someone with a protected characteristic at an unfair disadvantage.
• Harassment - unwanted behaviour linked to a protected characteristic that violates someone’s dignity or creates an offensive environment for them.
• Victimisation - treating someone unfairly because they’ve complained about discrimination or harassment.

What is Discrimination at Work?

So, how can you be discriminated against at work? In short, the law protects you from discrimination against dismissal, employment terms and conditions, pay and benefits, promotion and transfer opportunities, training, recruitment, and redundancy. If you’re disabled, you also have the same rights as other workers. Employers, therefore, should make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to help disabled employees and job applicants.

What Can I do About Discrimination at Work?

If you think you’ve been unfairly discriminated against at work, there are several steps you can take. The first port of call would be to complain directly to the person or organisation to try and sort out the problem informally. Another option would be to use ‘mediation’ or ‘alternative dispute resolution’ to help resolve the issue. The final option would be to make a claim in a court or tribunal.

Next Steps

Before you act, it is worth thinking about what the best approach would be for your situation. This may be based upon the type of problem, the amount of time since the problem happened, and the outcome you want. It is also advised that you check to make sure your problem is covered by the Equality Act and if you haven’t already, start gathering evidence to back up your complaint. If at this stage you feel that an informal complaint will not suffice, or if you’ve complained to your employer but the problem hasn’t been solved and you’re close to the time limit for bringing a claim, you may choose to take legal action and challenge the discrimination at an employment tribunal.

You usually have 3 months to make a claim following the problem happening. Before you make a claim to an employment tribunal, you must contact Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service). The time limit for making a claim is put on hold while Acas helps you with your dispute. You’ll be offered the chance to try and settle the dispute without going to tribunal by using Acas’s free ‘early conciliation’ service, but if this doesn’t work Acas will send you an early conciliation certificate which you can use to make a claim to the tribunal.

If you are being unfairly discriminated against at work and are considering taking legal action against your employers, call us on Bingley 01274 723858, Ilkley 01943 601173 or Bradford 01274 735511.