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Diversity & discrimination

The wide-ranging anti-discrimination and harassment legislative provisions in the UK are set to become even more extensive with the Equality Act coming into force.

With unlimited compensation for successful claimants in employment tribunals meaning that we are moving ever closer to a 'where there's blame, there's a claim' litigious society, employers need to do all they can to ensure people are treated fairly according to their merits and are not subjected to unwanted, offensive conduct which intentionally or unintentionally undermines their dignity and creates an unpleasant working environment.

Indeed, employers who put in place detailed policies to combat discrimination and harassment and embark on a dynamic regime involving training, awareness and monitoring to make that policy come alive and be truly effective, can avoid being held liable for their employees' unlawful acts. They also avoid the damaging publicity that invariably accompanies such claims these days.

We work with a wide range of organisations to assist them in five main ways.

Risk management: conducting an equality audit to identify potential areas of risk and providing practical solutions to reduce that risk, allowing employers to successfully mount a defence to avoid liability.

Policies and procedures: ensuring legally compliant policies are in place designed to prevent discrimination and harassment at all stages of the employment cycle, by setting out the organisation's zero tolerance stance and providing best practice procedures for raising and dealing with complaints.

Training and communication: making sure all staff are responsible for ensuring that discrimination and harassment have no place in the working environment and that managers understand their role in enforcing the policy and creating a culture where discrimination and harassment are 'not the way we do things around here'

Dealing with claims: either attempting to resolve cases through the use of internal procedures or mediation, or by representing clients in employment tribunals and the appellate courts.

Protecting reputation: advising clients on the most effective approach to take when dealing with the media, reducing the risk of bad publicity which may result from high profile cases.

 

Where litigation is unavoidable because there is a point of principle involved, or settlement is not possible, we have a significant amount of experience in dealing with high profile and sensitive cases.

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