Workplace discrimination solicitors

The Equality Act 2010 places obligations on employers to make sure prohibited conduct including harassment does not take place in recruitment or in the workplace.

People have “protected characteristics” and there is “prohibited conduct” because of those protected characteristics by employers or colleagues at work.

The protected characteristics are:

• age,
• disability,
• race,
• sex,
• sexual orientation,
• gender reassignment,
• marriage and civil partnership,
• pregnancy and maternity,
• religion or belief.

Prohibited conduct is:

• discrimination, and
• failure to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.

Discrimination at work can take place in different forms including:

• direct discrimination, where someone is treated less favourably than someone else because of a protected characteristic,
• indirect discrimination, where the policies or actions of an employer have the effect of putting people with a particular protected characteristic at a disadvantage, and
• harassment.

Someone who believes they are the victim of discrimination at work may have grounds to make a claim to an employment tribunal. There is no qualifying period of employment needed before you can make a tribunal claim for discrimination.

Protection against workplace discrimination also applies to the recruitment process as well.

Someone who makes a successful workplace discrimination claim at an employment tribunal can be awarded compensation for any damage or loss suffered including injury to feelings. There is no statutory limit on the amount of compensation that can be awarded in discrimination cases.

We can help in a number of ways:

• We can tell you whether we think you can make an employment tribunal claim.
• We can give you formal legal advice about your situation and the options available to you.
• Sometimes we may be able to negotiate with your employer on your behalf to try and resolve the situation.
• We can act for you in making an employment tribunal claim, preparing the case and representing you at the tribunal.

In all cases the starting point is an informal discussion with one of our employment law specialists who can tell you how we can help you.

We offer a free initial consultation by telephone for most employment law matters, so we can give you an idea of whether you have a potential claim or a case where we can help you. If a specialist is not available when you call, you can make an appointment for a call back.

Contact us to arrange to speak to an employment law specialist to see if we can help you.

We are a national law firm and represent clients from across England and Wales from our offices in London, Hertfordshire and Northampton.

There is usually no need to visit our offices. We can carry out meetings and appointments by telephone and video calls, with secure document sharing with our clients.

• London office.
• More contact information.

Our employment law solicitors have many years of experience and have represented people in hundreds of employment law cases.

• Employment Law Team.
• People at Bishopsgate Law.

We can undertake employment tribunal claims on a no win no fee basis where we assess the chances of success are good enough.