Archive
Month: March 2022
‘It was just banter’ – tribunal decision
A tribunal has once again confirmed that ‘it was just banter’ is no defence against a claim of discrimination and harassment.
Background
An employee suffered regular comments from colleagues about being an “old white man” and too old and lazy for his job. He’d made a written complaint to the company owner stating the “slurring abuse” was causing stress and sleepless nights. The owner dismissed the alleged behaviour as just being “banter” and took no steps to resolve the complaint. The tribunal disagreed finding that the behaviour created a hostile and intimidating working environment amounting to harassment. The company was liable for age and race discrimination and ordered to pay more than £22,000 in compensation.
Practical takeaways
Zero-tolerance – act quickly, investigate thoroughly, and deal with all harassment and discrimination concerns consistently. Regularly communicate your policies to set your standard (think diversity and inclusion, bullying and harassment) and be sure to follow through on penalties on every occasion.
Training – equality, diversity and inclusion training should form a regular feature in your training schedule. Not only does it set the standard of what’s expected of employees (reducing potential litigation risk), it also gives you an opportunity to show a tribunal that you’ve taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring and that any claims should be against the accused individual/s.
We can help with making sure you’ve got the right training and policies in place – get in touch for more detail.
This update is accurate on the date it was published (08 March 2022), but may be subject to change which may or may not be notified to you. This update is not to be taken as advice and you should seek advice if anything contained within affects you or your business.
Refusal to use preferred gender pronouns
An employment tribunal has found that a doctor’s refusal (due to his Christian faith) to use clients’ preferred gender pronouns is not a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010. Therefore his dismissal did not amount to discrimination. The decision is being appealed.
Background
A doctor was dismissed because he refused to identify clients by their preferred gender pronouns, instead insisting on using pronouns related to the sex clients were assigned at birth. He argued that he’d been discriminated against because his views were based on his Christian faith. The tribunal held that his view was not protected by the Equality Act 2010 (EQA) as it was “mere opinion” (as opposed to a philosophical belief). As a result the dismissal from his employment was not discriminatory.
Appeal
The appeal is being heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) on 28 and 29 March so we’ll update you with the practical impact as soon as we know the outcome. The tribunal’s decision in this case does appear to conflict with an EAT decision last year where a belief in there only being two sexes in human beings was held to be a genuine philosophical belief and protected from discrimination under the EQA.
What next?
This case highlights the challenges in balancing the rights and views of different employees. Irrespective of the appeal outcome, ensuring you have a robust dignity at work and equal opportunities policy in place is a great starting point. Lead from the top, train regularly, and reinforce what’s acceptable, encouraged, and where to raise concerns.
We can help with the right policies and training – get in touch.
This update is accurate on the date it was published (03 March 2022), but may be subject to change which may or may not be notified to you. This update is not to be taken as advice and you should seek advice if anything contained within affects you or your business.
Legal Lightbulb – people law, policies, and practice
As part of keeping you in our focus, our ‘legal lightbulb’ update ensures you’re on top of the latest changes in legislation, case law, and people trends.
Increase in compensation limits for tribunal claims
From 06 April 2022 maximum compensation amounts will increase for certain employment tribunal claims:
- A week’s pay will increase from £544 to £571 for the purposes of calculating a statutory redundancy payment or a basic award for unfair dismissal
- The maximum compensatory award will increase from £89,483 to £93,878 for unfair dismissal
The new limits will only apply to dismissals occurring on or after 06 April 2022.
Extension of remote right to work checks
Covid-adjusted right to work checks have been extended to 30 September 2022. This means that you will be able to continue to carry out remote right to work checks (via Zoom or Teams, for example) as opposed to manual checks of physical documents in person.
People dates for your diary
April 01 – Walk to Work Day: simple steps to improve health
April 04-10 – Community Garden Week: using the power of nature to bring people together
April 15 – International Micro-volunteering Day 2022: investing small amounts of time to help solve bigger challenges
April 21 – National Tea Day: get together for a cuppa and conversation
April 23 – Earth Day: investing in our planet