Sex Discrimination & Sexual Harassment in Employment

SEXUAL PREJUDICE AND HARASSMENT, GENDER EQUALITY AND OPPORTUNITIES –AND WORKPLACE SEX DISCRIMINATION

(Based on author’s site www.geocities.com/sxdsc)

Legislation which, except in specific exceptional circumstances, prohibit discriminating against one on the ground of one's sex is not limited to but most often becomes involved in relation to or in the course employment, in, e.g., recruitment, job selection, terms and conditions of employment, training and promotion, and pay -including in the form of fringe benefits and redundancy pay and pensions.

In law, discrimination can be direct or indirect -or as harassment or victimization.

The law expects employers to have specific policies to ensure in all respects non-discriminatory treatment of all their employees of either gender or transgender -whether male or female and regardless of the marital status of men or women in their employ, and neglect or recklessness by the employer may make in law the employers (including vicariously) liable for sex discrimination or sexual harassment.

Sex discrimination is, simply, subjecting to less favourable treatment a person because of that person's sex -because the person is boy or girl, is a man or a woman (including, in the case of female persons, whether pregnant, expecting, or with a baby or children as covered by the equality and employment legislation, and also male persons in relation to paternity leave), or because of that person's marital status -because that the person is married or single -mostly applicable to married women.

It is also unlawful sex discrimination if on the ground of one's sex one is not paid equally for what the law calls 'equal work' ~which is not necessarily same work but also is work of equal value -in other words such work that is like work or work which cannot be argued in law reasonably not to be work that is rated as being equivalent work (Hayward -v- Canwell Laird Shipyards 1988).

'Pay' in the European Union in Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome is defined this as being the ordinary, basic, or minimum wage or salary or any other consideration, whether in cash or kind, which the worker receives, directly or indirectly, in respect of his [or her] employment from [the] employer -including any benefit involved in relation to after the employment ends ~such as concessions in respect of travel benefits following retirement (Garland -v- British Rail Engineering 1982) and early-retirement pension (Barber -v- Royal Exchange Assurance Groups 1990).

Sex discrimination can be 'direct', or 'indirect'.

Direct sex discrimination would be, for example, if one is refused employment on the ground that the job traditionally is regarded as being 'a man's job' or as being 'a woman's job' (Baksha -v- Say 1977).

Indirect sex discrimination is by way of a requirement which without reasonable justification can not be or can less be met by the other sex ~for example if a job advertisement said that the position advertised persons of either sex could apply but unjustifiably stated that hand-bags or purses were not allowed to work or must wear perfume -in England under European Union Law's definitions it was held that it was unlawful discrimination that in government employment the age limit for appointment to executive officer grade was 28 since many women in their 20s planned or had babies to look after (Price -v- Civil Service Commission 1978).

It is equally unlawful sex discrimination to segregate male and female sexes without reasonable justification in places of work, as it is also to victimize one because of applicable e.g. feminism or feminist activity or if is known or suspected to have made or be intending to make an allegation of having been subjected to sex discrimination or sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment at work sometimes may also be a criminal offence ~in Europe the EU Code of Practice defined it as being unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of a woman [or a man] at work -it is a detriment on the ground of one's gender (it was unlawful for example for two male employees to have made frequently remarks which were suggestive to one of their female colleagues and to have brushed against her deliberately causing such unpleasantness as to have necessitated her requesting to be transferred to another post -Porcelli -v- Strathclyde Regional District Council 1980).

In Europe the member states of the European Union must have an Equal Opportunities Commission or its equivalent to regulate these under e.g. the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (supplemented by the Equal Pay Act, Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations, Maternity and Paternity (Amendment) Regulations, EE (Sexual Orientation) Regulations -and in the Employment Rights Act and the Employment Relations Act).

The Equal Opportunities Commission must also to provide information and assistance -including legal representation subject to meeting specified criteria, to persons who wish to complain to a county court, or in the case of trainees or employees to an employment tribunal.

The complaints process includes, if the person alleging discrimination so chooses, serving a questionnaire on the alleged discriminator -requiring to related questions written answers ~it may be used in evidence and inference be drawn from failure to respond or vague or ambiguous answers.

The person alleging discrimination may be, up to limits specified by law, in the case of the industrial / employment tribunals, ordered to pay costs, if the allegation proves to be unreasonably groundless, frivolous, or vexatious, and whereas financial remedy in respect of other matters is limited to a maximum, following a European Court of Justice confirmation there is, at the discretion of the tribunal, no limit on the amount of compensation which may be awarded for injury to feelings arising from sex discrimination in the workplace.

It is not unlawful sex discrimination, though, to discriminate in life or accident insurance risk assessment for employees fringe benefits justifiable by statistics, or in competitive sport if strength or stamina or physique matters -nor is it sex discrimination in employment if discrimination relates to, e.g., unadvertised managing of premises partly in one's or relatives' occupation, voluntary non-profit bodies or charities insignificant to other sex or statutory single sex colleges, or facilities which may embarrass men or women or would offend significantly a religion on grounds or privacy and decency.

Sex discrimination may be perfectly lawfully practised by employers, if there is an imbalance of male and female employees, without the dismissal of any by recruiting specifically from one sex alone, and in such cases as of necessity only from one particular sex must be recruited ~for example as in the case of a movie company's advertising Edgar Rice Borough's 'Tarzan' specifically for a male person or for his 'Jane' auditioning only female persons -or, e.g., in the case of a modelling agency employing as a fashion model only persons of one sex for modelling wear for that sex only.

Sex discrimination laws may vary in detail among countries that have such legislation, and in the European Union they are more or less uniform -in the case of allegations of discrimination in education in England (whether one does or not settle through the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service -ACAS) with a requirement within a specified time before taking legal action to inform the secretary of state for education.

(Laws change –always ascertain current law)

The author has a website at: http://www.geocities.com/eoa_uk