The Equality Act 2010 set out nine protected characteristics. This means that it’s illegal for you to be discriminated against on the basis of:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender Reassignment
- Marriage or Civil Partnership (As related to your employment)
- Pregnancy and Maternity
- Race
- Religion or Belief
- Sex
- Sexual Orientation
Unfortunately, people often suffer workplace bullying and harassment in relation to these characteristics. Just as significantly, many people suffer unlawful discrimination at work, which means that they receive unfavourable treatment because of these protected characteristics. Examples of unlawful discrimination in the workplace include:
- Unequal pay: Where someone is paid less than others doing the same work on the basis of a protected characteristic; commonly where women are paid less than men doing the same job.
- Unfair rules: Such as where followers of one religion might be allowed to wear symbols of their faith, while another group isn’t.
- Age discrimination: Such as when a worker over the age of 50 is selected for redundancy in preference to a younger worker with less experience and ability.
- Maternity discrimination: Whereby a pregnant employee is dismissed for poor attendance due to her pregnancy.
Unfortunately, there are many other examples of discriminatory practices in the workplace. If you feel that you’ve been treated unfairly at work due to age, sex, race, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, gender reassignment, religion or beliefs, you may have a case for discrimination against your employer. To speak to a sympathetic and experienced employment discrimination solicitor, call us on 020 8553 0950 or contact us and we’ll call you.
