Disability related discrimination meaning

In this edition: Employment contract Pay Protected characteristics Prohibited conduct (discrimination etc) Prohibited conduct protection at work Equality of terms (equal pay) Employment Appeal Tribunal Governance and regulatory Immigration Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Employment resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Employment contract UKSC upholds claimants’ appeal and restores injunction in Tesco ‘fire and rehire’ case In Tesco Stores Ltd v Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) [2024] UKSC 28, Tesco moved to end employees’ contracts to remove their ‘retained pay’—a contractual financial entitlement accepted as permanent—and to offer re-engagement on new terms excluding that pay. Working with the union, USDAW, several employees obtained a High Court injunction restraining Tesco from dismissing them in order to take away the retained pay entitlement. The Court of Appeal, however, allowed Tesco’s appeal against that order. The Supreme Court has since backed the claimants’ appeal and...

Nockolds Solicitors Ltd reports that references to the menopause in unfair and constructive dismissal actions, alongside discrimination claims, have surged to more than three times previous levels, jumping from 64 in 2022 to 204 over the last year. In a statement, Joanna Sutton, a principal associate at Nockolds, noted that while employer understanding of mental health and other disabilities has improved, many workplace rules still have yet to catch up and account for the menopause as a disability. Sutton also remarked that employers are increasingly insisting staff come back to the office and increase output, placing pressure on employees...

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE 2006), SI 2006/246 On a relevant transfer, TUPE 2006 effects a statutory novation of transferring employees’ contracts: the transferee steps into the transferor’s shoes. This Practice Note outlines the rights, powers, duties and liabilities that pass, and treats the transferor’s acts or omissions as those of the transferee in relation to transferring staff. For fuller guidance on: what amounts to a relevant transfer under TUPE 2006, see Practice Notes: TUPE—business transfers and TUPE—service provision changes who counts as transferring employees, see Practice Note: TUPE—transfer of employees the duty to inform and consult about a relevant transfer, see Practice Note: TUPE—information and consultation how TUPE 2006 protects transferring staff against contractual variations and dismissal, see Practice Notes: TUPE—variation of contract terms and TUPE—protection against dismissal For a checklist of employment-related liabilities that arise on a relevant transfer under TUPE 2006, and whether they pass from transferor to transferee, see: What...

Harassment under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) This Practice Note examines harassment within the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010), meaning exposing a person to unwelcome behaviour linked to a relevant protected characteristic (race, sex etc), where that behaviour is intended to, or in fact does, undermine the victim’s dignity or produce an environment that is intimidating (eg bullying), hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive. Sexual harassment (ie unwelcome behaviour of a sexual kind with the necessary purpose or effect), and employers’ obligations to prevent sexual harassment, are addressed separately in Practice Note: Sexual harassment and the duty to prevent it. The Note also looks at the Protection from Act 1997 (PHA 1997) (see: Protection from Act 1997, below). This Practice Note includes citations to case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). For guidance on whether CJEU judgments are binding on UK courts, see Practice Note: Assimilated law—Assimilated case law. Domestic enactments that fulfil UK duties arising under EU law constitute assimilated law. For additional...

Practice Note This Practice Note charts the progress, scope and specifics of the employment‑related Bills signalled in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, setting out the Labour Government’s legislative programme, namely the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) and the proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. It records the origins of the various elements within the Bills, including Labour’s new deal for working people (September 2021) and the Labour Party Manifesto 2024, and follows subsequent announcements and press releases over time, notably the policy paper Next Steps to Make Work Pay (Next Steps). The Practice Note also maps movement on other manifesto commitments of interest to employment practitioners, such as proposals to introduce a single worker status alongside a right for workers to disconnect from work outside their usual working hours. The Labour Manifesto stated that Labour’s Plan to make work pay: Delivering a new deal for working people will be implemented in full. That document contains the detailed employment‑related pledges. The provisions are presented in tables...

1 Purpose and scope 1.1 The Company is dedicated to safeguarding the health, safety and wellbeing of its workforce, fostering positive mental health for all staff, and addressing the sources of stress and work‑related mental ill health. 1.2 The Company seeks to create a constructive workplace where: 1.2.1 it partners with employees to enhance the physical and mental health of everyone; 1.2.2 all staff feel confident to speak openly about mental health without fearing discrimination where it amounts to a disability, or any bullying or harassment; 1.2.3 people experiencing mental health problems have the chance to take part in the workplace. 1.3 The Company recognises workplace stress as a health and safety matter and accepts the need to identify and lessen its causes. 1.4 It also acknowledges that mental ill health may influence an employee’s performance or conduct, and that suitable support and adjustments should be considered before any formal steps such...