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'Resolving Business Issues'
Sex Discrimination
Sex discrimination: Employers need to be aware of the following changes regardless of their size of the business.
The changes will affect maternity, pregnancy related action and harassment in the workplace. You need to be aware of these changes and how they affect your policies and procedures as well as any financial implications.
Harassment
The change: The definition of harassment has changed and been widened to make it easier to bring a claim. Previously an employee has had to show that they have suffered ‘on the grounds of their sex’ which meant in reality that it needed to be ‘obvious’ that the harassment was related to their sex. The new definition changes the wording to ‘related to sex’. This much wider meaning will now allow an employee to bring a claim if they can show that the harassment is in relation to, or in connection to their sex.
In reality this means that action towards another could give rise to a potential claim, for example, if a woman hears a manager making comments that could be seen as sexist to another female member of staff, then another employee may claim against the employer if she feels that this is gender harassment, as this indirect action has affected her.
This may also increase the liability on employers in relation to third parties, i.e. customers, client, contractor or visitor. If one of the people in these categories subjects an employee to harassment, and the employer is aware of this, and does not take any action to prevent such harassment, and it happens again, this may be sufficient for them to bring a claim.
Pregnancy and Maternity
In this area there have been a lot of changes over the past few years and this is an additional one which will mean that another change in Company policy will be required.
Previously in order to bring a claim in this area the employee would have had to compare herself to a woman who is not on maternity leave or is pregnant and this would be the ‘comparator’ that she would use in showing the difference in treatment when brining a Tribunal claim.
The law has now changed and the employee now only needs to show that she has been treated differently to the way she would have been treated if she had not been pregnant or on maternity leave in order to bring a Tribunal claim.
There are several other changes that employers need to be aware of:
· The first is that the law has now given effect to case law in respect of payment of any bonuses during the 2 weeks compulsory maternity leave period. This means that if an employee would have been eligible for a bonus during this period if they had been at work, then they will be entitled to it for the 2 weeks compulsory maternity leave.
· The next is that the new legislation removes part of the distinction between Ordinary maternity leave and Additional maternity leave. In the past, employer’s have only had to pay statutory benefits during Additional maternity leave, but now employees will be entitled to all their contractual benefits as well. These will include accrual of contractual annual leave, the right to company cars, gym membership, health insurance etc. This will affect all employers but more so those that give added benefits. This though does have a time delay for the implementation and will only apply to those who’s expected week of childbirth falls on or after the 5th October 2008.
These changes will mean that most employers will need to change their Company policies which if you contact Intellect Business Services and we will be happy to discuss how we can assist you with this – 0800 023 2048