For example: An employment agency makes sure its website is accessible to disabled people and that it can provide information about job opportunities in a range of alternative formats. It also makes sure its staff are trained to assist disabled people who approach it to find out about job opportunities. Occupational pensions Occupational pension schemes must not unlawfully discriminate against people. There is more information about what this means in the Equality and Human Rights Commission guide: What equality law means for you as an employer: pay and benefits. In addition, an occupational pension scheme must make reasonable adjustments to any provision, criterion or practice in relation to the scheme which puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with people who are not disabled. For example: The rules of an employer’s final salary scheme provide that the maximum pension receivable is based on the member’s salary in the last year of work. Having worked full-time for 20 years, a worker develops a condition which leads them to reduce their working hours two years before their pension age. The scheme’s rules put them at a disadvantage as a result of their disability, because their pension will only be calculated on their part-time salary. The trustees decide to convert the worker’s part- time salary to its full-time equivalent and make a corresponding reduction in the period of their part-time employment which counts as pensionable. In this way, their full-time earnings will be taken into account. This is likely to be a reasonable adjustment to make.
increased amount of compensation, to the claimant instead. In cases of indirect discrimination, if you can prove that you did not intend what you did to be discriminatory, the tribunal must consider all of the remedies before looking at damages. The Employment Tribunal can also order an employer to pay the claimant's legal costs and expenses, although this does not often happen in Employment Tribunal cases. However, the Tribunal is now likely to order you to reimburse any fees the person had to pay the tribunal to bring their claim if you are unsuccessful in defending the claim. From 6 April 2014, the Tribunal may also impose financial penalties of between £100 – £5,000 (payable to the Government) on an employer if they are unsuccessful in defending a claim and the case has ‘aggravating features’. These awards are only likely to be imposed sparingly in cases where the employer’s conduct has been particularly reprehensible. The Government also intends to introduce legislation in October 2014 which will require an Employment Tribunal to order, subject to certain exceptions, an employer to undertake an equal pay audit where the Tribunal finds that the employer has breached an equality clause and/or discriminated because of sex in relation to pay. Settling a dispute Legal proceedings can be a stressful and time consuming experience. It may be in the best interest of everyone to try to agree to settle a dispute to avoid going to an Employment Tribunal or court hearing. There are three ways in which a dispute can be settled: Agreement between you and the worker Acas conciliation service Qualifying settlement agreement Agreement between you and the worker Before a claim is issued by your worker in the Employment Tribunal, you can agree to settle a dispute directly with them. An agreement to settle a dispute can include any terms that you agree with the worker and can cover compensation, future actions by you and the worker and other lawful matters. For example: A worker raises a grievance with her employers alleging a failure to
worker In this guide, ‘worker’ is used to refer to any person working for an employer, whether they are employed on a contract of employment (ie an ‘employee’) or on a contract personally to do work, or more generally as a contract worker. In employment law, the term ‘worker’ has a similar meaning to those people covered by the Equality Act. However, it is not quite identical to that and has its own definition; the term is used, for example, to people covered by the Working Time Regulations and the law on the minimum wage.