Sex Discrimination In The UK

Wednesday March 2011, 00:00:00

The sex discrimination act in the UK has been revised several time most recently in 2010 under the guide of the equality act to make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you because of your sex.The law covers areas including:Training,terms and conditions of employment,pay and benefits,dismissal and recruitment. One of the centre points of the 2010 Act is equal pay for men and women who carry out the same or like job within a company for an employer,workof an equal value and also work which has been evaluated equivalent by a study by the employer. It is this which make pay secrecy clauses in employment contract unenforceable under this law if you are trying to find out if pay difference is based on a characteristic ,such as sex. Under the 2010 act an employer may encourage a drive for equality in circumstances where they may not have any female line managers ,the employer may encourage women to apply for these roles or offer skills training to them. Ultimatley if you feel thay you may be a victim of sex discrimination in the workplace you may bring a claim to an employment tribunal to ursue sucha case.It may be better speak to your employer to see if the mattermay be dealt with informally.A famous recent case of sex discrimination was Switalski v FC Management. Gill Switalski, 52, left her £140,000-a-year job as head of the legal team at F & C Assets Management London, in September 2007 after her senior manager criticised her for choosing a flexible working pattern, at an employment appeal tribunal. This was so that she could balance her job with the care of her sons, one of who has cerebral palsy and the other Asperser’s syndrome. She also claimed she was bullied and discriminated against because her boss "prefers the company of men and prefers working with them”. Switalski had not been allowed to join the all-male management committee despite her senior level. When she complained, she was told "to put up or shut up”. It was also alleged that her boss took male members of staff out for lunch several times but only shared a plate of sandwiches with Switalski while he carried out her career review. After a two year legal battle FC management settled out of court. Switalski was originally seeking £19 million in damages.