Employment

There are different types of discrimination that an employee can bring against a Company: Direct Discrimination – treating someone less favourably than others because of a protected characteristic Indirect Discrimination – imposing a provision, criterion, or practice that puts individuals with a protected characteristic at a disadvantage Harassment – unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment Victimisation – treating someone unfairly because they have asserted their rights under the Equality Act, such as filing a discrimination complaint or supporting someone who has Discrimination arising from disability – treating a disabled person unfavourably because of something arising from, or in consequence of, their disability Failure to make reasonable adjustments – failure to accommodate the needs of a disabled person, where such adjustments would prevent a substantial disadvantage Associative Discrimination – treating someone unfairly because they are associated with someone who has a protected characteristic Perceptive Discrimination – treating someone unfairly based on the perception that they have a particular protected characteristic, even if they do not

Employers must follow a fair and thorough process prior to disciplining or dismissing an employee. Employers must thoroughly investigate and obtain evidence of the misconduct prior to commencing the disciplinary process. This should include an investigatory meeting with the employee who has committed the alleged misconduct. Once you have obtained the information you should invite the employee to a disciplinary hearing, at which they will have the right to be accompanied. If an employer does not have its own disciplinary process, employers should at least follow the procedure set out in the ACAS Code of practice.

If you feel you have been subject to discrimination at work, we strongly suggest you take legal advice on your position as we know how upsetting this can be. Our team of specialist employment lawyers support and advise you on your situation and the next steps. This could be looking to commence employment tribunal proceedings or raising an internal grievance in the first instance.

A whistleblower is an individual who makes a protected disclosure in the workplace environment. Any employee could make a protected disclosure. A protected disclosure is a disclosure of information which shows or tends to show one or more of the following has happened or is likely to happen: That a criminal offence has been committed That there has been a breach of legal obligations That a miscarriage of justice has occurred That the health and safety of an individual has been endangered That the environment has been damaged That any of the above events have been deliberately concealed The disclosure of information must also be in the public interest It is important to ensure that any protected disclosure is taken seriously and addressed in the correct manner. The law surrounding protected disclosures is complex and our team of employment lawyers can help you understand and navigate the process correctly.

A collective redundancy is when an employer proposes to make more than 20 employees redundant at one establishment within a 90 day period. If you propose to make 20 to 99 employees redundant you must commence the consultation process 30 days prior to the dismissal. If you propose to make 100 or more employees redundant you must commence the consultation process 45 days prior to the dismissal. In addition to the consultation with the employees you must inform the Redundancy Payments Service that you intend to make redundancies prior to consulting with the employees. What is an employee entitled to when they are made redundant? In addition to their notice, employees are entitled to statutory redundancy pay. Statutory redundancy pay is based on the employees age, length of service, and weekly pay subject to certain statutory limits.

If you do not handle a grievance properly and the employee submits a claim at the Employment Tribunal you are at risk of the Judge awarding a 25% uplift to any compensation that may be awarded to the employee.

TUPE stands for Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment). It is a set of regulations in the United Kingdom that are designed to protect the employment rights of employees when their business, or part of it, is transferred to a new employer.