Workplace Discrimination Claims Defence Solicitors
Our Discrimination Defence Solicitors are specialists in all areas of discrimination law. We provide expert legal advice on workplace discrimination and any existing action against your company.
Claims by an employee are costly and reputationally damaging, and can have a significant impact on small to medium sized businesses, as well as larger organisations. We have helped countless individuals and businesses throughout south Manchester, Cheshire and beyond to bring claims or defend themselves against accusations of discrimination, achieving the best outcome for clients.
We also provide bespoke training packages for employer clients to train their employees in relation to discrimination to try and reduce the number of claims that are brought and increase the prospects of successfully defending such claims. In the ever-changing landscape of UK employment law, we keep pace with the latest developments. If your company or you find yourself accused of discrimination at work, we will provide sound advice and help you with any legal action.
What counts as discrimination under the Equality Act 2010?
The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual on the grounds of 9 different “protected characteristics”: Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Pregnancy and maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Marital status, Sex and Sexual orientation.
Failure to comply with the Equality Act can result in Employment Tribunal claims which can cost businesses time, money and their reputation.
It is vital that companies have policies and procedures in place to handle any potentially discriminatory incidents properly and avoid the risk of a successful claim – which is where we come in. Our solicitors specialise in helping companies throughout the North West and the rest of the UK to implement necessary procedures.
What is Equal Pay?
A complex area of the law covered by the Equality Act 2010, equal pay is designed to ensure that men and women within the same employment receive equal pay for equal work. Equal pay legislation works by implying a sex equality clause into every contract. This overrides any unequal terms by which a worker is paid less than a member of the opposite sex.
Like discrimination claims, an equal pay dispute can also be a very costly situation. However, through consulting a dedicated member of our team, we can offer you the help and support needed to guide you through any litigation.
What is an “All Reasonable Steps” defence?
As an employer, you may be liable for indirect acts of discrimination or acts of direct discrimination of your employees unless you can prove that you have taken all reasonable actions to keep these from happening.
There is no one-size-fits-all list of actions to take. Instead, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) stated that “an employer would be considered to have taken all reasonable steps if there were no further steps that they could have been expected to take”.
While whether or not you have done all that could reasonably be expected is decided on a case-by-case basis, some general guidelines to consider are as follows.
Updated and appropriate policies
Inclusive work environment
Policy communication and training
Established representative groups
These are simply guidelines we have taken from past Employment Tribunal cases, and not part of the law or the Equality Act 2010. If you are concerned about your liability to workplace discrimination claims, or want to document your actions to prove you have taken all reasonable steps to avoid discrimination in the workplace, contact Analysis Legal today. We can help you audit your policies and protocols, ensuring you are safe from claims now and in the future.
Once again Analysis Legal LLP is a leading firm in the Legal 500 directory, which states ‘Kate Oberg provides pragmatic advice to companies in a variety of sectors, with established strength in matters regarding dismissal and discrimination claims, holiday pay, and employee contracts’.
What is Objective Justification in Workplace Discrimination?
Objective justification is a legal term that refers to a course of action in the workplace that could be considered discriminatory in the workplace, but is legal if there is a good enough reason to take it.
An employer may be required to prove both of these principles in a tribunal if they wish to claim objective justification.
- The discriminatory act was unavoidable because of a legitimate aim – often a health and safety requirement or urgent need.
- The act was ‘proportionate, appropriate and necessary’, meaning the aim was considered more important than the discriminatory consequences of the act.
Financial benefits, meaning the aim of improving the business’s profits, is almost never considered a legitimate aim for which your actions may make your employee feel they have been treated unfairly.
Regardless of whether an employer has a legitimate aim, and has taken proportionate, appropriate and necessary actions to achieve it, it is important to ensure the discriminatory effect of any decision is minimised. If a workplace discrimination claim is brought against you, it becomes increasingly complex to prove you have taken all necessary steps if the action had severe discriminatory effects on a staff member.
When is Objective Justification applicable?
Proving you had a legitimate aim and have only taken proportionate, appropriate and necessary action may not justify all discrimination against protected categories.
Objective justification can only be claimed for three types of discrimination in the workplace:
- Indirect discrimination: a common example is related to language fluency, as restricting certain roles to fluent or native speakers may amount to discrimination. However, this could be a necessity for the business, especially if it trades internationally.
- Disability discrimination: some roles may require physical or mental fitness which can only be guaranteed by able-bodied employees. While not allowing disabled people to take these roles may seem discriminatory, it is often a health and safety necessity.
- Age discrimination: restricting a role to people of a certain age group can be discriminatory, however this can be a legal requirement, or derived from a proven need for physical fitness or experience of the employee.
It is vital to take all steps to prevent discrimination in the workplace, even if you believe your actions may fall within justifiable forms of discrimination.
Do employees have time limits to make Discrimination Claims?
If an employee wishes to bring a claim against you for unlawful discrimination, they must do so within a time limit. For the majority of claims, this limit is 3 months less one day, however claims related to discrimination issues such as Equal Pay may benefit from a time limit of 6 months less one day.
The time limit starts from the day the alleged discrimination occurred. If the claim related to a pattern of behaviour leading to the employee feeling they were treated less favourably, it may be valid from the date of the last provable occurrence of discrimination.
Multiple examples of discrimination which do not outline a pattern will be treated as separate incidents, each being subject to its own time limit.
Why choose Analysis Legal?
As a team of specialist solicitors dealing with matters related to employment law for employers, we handle a lot of discrimination claims. These claims are serious but our aim is to help defend these at a tribunal and we have a lot of experience behind us to help with this. From our office in Stockport, we regularly help clients around the Manchester and North West area, notably the larger towns of Sheffield, Liverpool and Leeds. We go beyond that too, assisting clients all over England and Wales.
Our team of Employment Law Solicitors in Manchester are very transparent, and that is why we offer fixed fees for our services where possible. We will keep you updated on any legal process, turning complex legal jargon into easy-to-understand language. We constantly renew our own knowledge around the law to stay up-to-date with any changes.
Your business needs are our priority. We take time to understand more about how we can help you as a business, not only in fighting this discrimination claim but in future employment issues. We see these matters as forming a partnership, and want to tailor our services to your specific needs.
We want to help you grow, which is why we offer advice such as identifying training requirements and ensuring you are aware of any recent changes to the law. This will help you better plan for the future, potentially updating any legal documents required.
If you need help fighting a discrimination claim today, get in touch and we will fight your corner.