20 law
Protecting employees from sexual orientation discrimination at work
Shoosmiths urges employers to tackle sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace. While it is great news that legislation to protect employees from sexual orientation discrimination has improved, does that actually mean that employers and employees are more accepting of one another regardless of their sexual preferences?
Research in the UK shows that despite nine out of 10 people supporting laws protecting lesbians and gay men from discrimination at work, one in five lesbian and gay people have experienced bullying from their colleagues because of their sexual orientation.
Furthermore almost four million people have witnessed verbal homophobic bullying in the workplace and over one million have witnessed physical homophobic bullying at work.
National law firm Shoosmiths is urging employers to put clear plans in place to prevent sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace, by launching a new best practice checklist for employers.
Sexual orientation is one of the nine 'protected characteristics' covered by the Equality Act 2010. This is the main piece of legislation which protects gay and lesbian people within the field of employment, occupation and vocational training. As with the other areas of protection under the
recruitment Our future depends on recruiting
millennials, say south east SMEs (43%) of South East millennials would turn down a job offer if they didn’t like a company’s culture, even if the salary was right.
Small and medium-sized businesses in the South East believe future success relies on their ability to recruit so-called millennials – those born between 1980 and 2000 – but recognise that they need to do more to attract them, according to new research by Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.
More than three quarters (79%) of South East SMEs said the growth of their business relies on their ability to recruit millennial talent. In fact, almost a third (32%) said they want a millennial to take over their business one day.
It is estimated that millennials will account for more than half of the global workforce by 2020 and will shape the workplaces of tomorrow.
Power shift to millennial job-seekers
More than three quarters (76%) of SMEs in the region said they feel under pressure to sell themselves to millennials. Indeed, 18% of firms worry that a job offer has been turned down in the past because the young candidate didn’t like their business culture.
In fact, the survey showed that almost half
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Because of this, 65% of businesses think the balance of power has shifted to millennials within the recruitment process.
As such, SMEs are reviewing and adapting their working practices, with most (88%) prepared to do this to secure the services of millennials.
To this end, South East businesses are, on average, investing 16% of their annual turnover just on recruiting this generation.
Flexibility is a priority, say millennials
When asked what they are looking for in a job, the most popular answer, cited by 67% of millennials, was flexible working hours, followed by the option to work from home (38%) and increased responsibility offered by a smaller, more entrepreneurial business (24%).
While 68% of South East SMEs think their business is already geared up correctly to attract millennials and offer them this kind of working environment, 44% said they
need further guidance – such as enterprise mentoring support – to recruit this age group more effectively.
The most attractive skills SMEs want in millennials are their fresh ideas (56%), a different perspective (47%) and digital skills (32%).
Ian Patterson, area director for SME banking in the South East, said: “South East SMEs need to work hard to recruit millennials as the future of their business could depend on having them on board. They can tap in to a range of attributes, from hard skills such as digital and technological know-how, to fresh ideas and new perspectives.
“Although SMEs are beginning to invest and change their business culture to make themselves more attractive, they also tell us that they need help to find the right people.
“Whether it’s marketing, financial support or digital expertise, for example, there’s a whole wealth of guidance available to them via our local relationship managers and national network of enterprise mentors. With this support, South East SMEs will be better placed to make a success of their millennial recruitment drive and ensure long-term business success.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2015
Act, job applicants and those 'in employment' (ie those who work under a contract of employment or apprenticeship, or a contract to do work personally), are protected from harassment, victimisation, direct and in-direct discrimination.
So what does this mean?
• Job applicants should not be treated less favourably than others because of their sexual orientation
• Employees cannot be ignored for promotion because of their sexual orientation
• The telling of jokes that are offensive about gay or lesbian people should not be tolerated in the workplace
• Employees cannot be subjected to detrimental treatment, ie a disciplinary sanction, because they have made or intend to make a sexual orientation discrimination complaint under the Act
• An employer cannot apply to a gay or lesbian
person a provision, criteria or practice (PCP) which when applied to all employees, puts or would put that gay or lesbian employee and other persons of their sexual orientation at a particular disadvantage when compared to others not of the same sexual orientation, unless the employer can objectively justify their PCP.
The Act also provides that both direct discrimination and harassment can occur by means of association and perception. In the case of English v Thomas Sanderson, a heterosexual male employee claimed that he had been treated less favourably because he was thought to be gay.
Overall, sexual orientation is now clearly recognised as an impermissible ground of discrimination and employers, in the 21st century, should be well-accustomed to having a diverse workforce.
Employers must take action to ensure they are committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment and have an equal opportunities policy in place to avoid discrimination in the workplace. For more information or to download the FREE sexual orientation discrimination checklist visit
www.ow.ly/PJBcQ or contact employment lawyer, Michael Briggs.
Details: Michael Briggs 03700-865066
www.shoosmiths.co.uk
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